


Running Home to You

by Swim2520



Series: A Different West-Allen [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batwoman (TV 2019), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, other characters included
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2020-04-06 05:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19055878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swim2520/pseuds/Swim2520
Summary: Kara never lived with the Danvers. Instead, she grew up as Kara West, adopted daughter of Joe West, with a sister and the boy that she doesn't know she has feelings for.Kara and Barry have always been attached to the hip. Some even say that they are psychically linked. Kara always thought of him as her brother; Barry was in love with since before he knew what the word meant. He has yet to work up the courage to tell her how he really feels. And then lightening strikes. Literally. Cross posted on Fanfiction.net and Wattpad





	1. Chapter 1

"Barry! Keep up!" Kara shouted out over her shoulder. She could hear his footsteps get faster as he struggled to catch up with her.

"I'm trying. Its hard when you're using your super speed to get to work faster."

"Well, we're running late," she replied.

Barry finally caught up with her, panting heavily. "I can't help it if my alarm didn't go off."

She gave him a withering look. Most of the time, Kara was up first. Her super hearing could pick up sounds from miles away, and as Central City started waking up, it got louder. So, of course, Kara would get up first. She would sometimes grab breakfast from the local cafe, Jitters, and come back to wake Barry up for work.

Today, though, Kara had accidentally fallen asleep in her hearing dampeners, which meant that she had not been up to wake up Barry. Her cousin, Clark, had a friend who was good with technology, who designed a pair of devices that looked like hearing aids for the young Kryptonian, but decreased the range of her hearing (Kara had had a hard time controlling her hearing when she first arrived on earth, and still did occasionally).

Due to her not being up, both Kara and Barry slept later than usual and missed their bus. They considered waiting for another bus to come around, but that would have caused them to be even later than they would be if they walked/run. So, Kara secured her bag, tossed out her coffee, and started jogging. "I am not your alarm and, once again, it was an accident. Let's just hope Singh doesn't notice we are this late." Kara checked her watch and cursed in Kryptonese. "We need to hurry up."

"Kara, I cannot go any faster," Barry said. Right. She had briefly forgotten that her roommate did not have super speed like her.

"Sorry!"

A silence fell between them as they raced towards the CCPD headquarters downtown. Kara had to slow down multiple times to let Barry catch up to her. By the time they arrived at the station, it was thirty minutes past the time they were supposed to arrive at work.

"West! Allen! Where have you two been?" Captain Singh yelled out as soon as they walked out of the elevator.

"Sorry, Captain," Barry said. "Alarm didn't go off and we missed our bus this morning...sir."

"Well, don't let it happen again. Get to work. And I need the results from the Jefferson case by lunch!"

"Yessir. We'll get right on that, sir," Kara said, pushing Barry towards the stairs.

Their lab was on the top floor of the station, away from all the drama and shouts from the main office. Not too many people ventured up to the lab, except Joe, Iris, and occasionally Captain Singh when he came to rush them on results for a case. This meant that Kara and Barry were often left to their own devices. In their spare time, they played trash can basketball with scrap paper, doodled (Kara's doodles were much better than Barry's), and went over the newspaper clippings they had collected about Barry's mother. But spare time was rare most days. Most of the time, they were busy running tests on evidence found at the crime scene and writing up the reports for the cops and detectives working the case.

"Hey, Barry, what the hell is the Jefferson case? What was Singh talking about?" Kara asked, tossing her bag on one of the many tables in the room.

"Attempted home robbery by gunpoint turned into a double homicide. Suspect was arrested on scene, but evidence is a little shaky at the moment to prosecute the guy. It happened two days ago," he replied, handing her a thin Manila file.  
Kara flicked through the file, reading the file at a pace that none could match. "Two days ago, huh? Sorry I wasn't here."

She had been in Metropolis for the past two weeks helping Clark and Lois with their new son, Matthew. Clark had been busy with his responsibilities as Superman and a reporter to stay with Lois full time, so he asked Kara to hop on a plane to help out. She had basically spent the time retrieving anything that Lois wanted and couldn't get up for. Two days ago, Lois had gone into labor. She gave birth to a beautiful little boy and named Kara his godmother. "It's alright. How is Matthew anyway?" Barry asked.  
"Great. It reminds me of the days that I used to take care of Clark."

"Really?" Barry shouted from the other side of the lab. Kara could see him bent over one of the tables, gathering up papers from several different cases. Nothing in the lab had changed in the two weeks she had been gone.

The lab was still just as bright without needing any lights on, thanks to the large windows and skylight in the room. Tables were still spread out, slightly haphazardly, throughout the lab. All of the tables were covered with papers from open and closed cases (they tended to work multiple cases at one time, which sometimes caused a back-up in reports). A few whiteboards were also spread out in the room. The boards were covered with articles and photographs of famous scientists that the two considered important.  
Barry banged something across the room. "What the hell are you doing over there?" Kara asked, dropping the stack of files she had grabbed on the closest table.

"The centrifuge isn't working again. We need to put in another request for new equipment. Soon." Kara groaned, but headed over to Barry. Even without asking, she knew what he wanted. They had been through this process enough for it to almost be a habit.  
The lab at CCPD was old. It had been around since the building was completed, but it had only started being a lab during the 90's. The equipment had been updated several times since then. Still, it wasn't enough to keep up the constant samples and tests they had to run. In the past two years, both Kara and Barry had requested updated equipment. Each time they were denied.

Barry handed her the sample as soon as she reached him. "Are we clear?"

"Yep," he replied, looking around the lab. Now granted the all clear, Kara began moving her hand at super speed. Within seconds, the sample was mixed better and more properly than what the centrifuge would have been able to do even if it was working. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied. Kara walked back towards her workstation and opened the file of the case. Based off what she had already seen when she skimmed through the file, Kara could see that she wouldn't have to touch up much on the report. Barry had done a good job running the tests, even with the horrible equipment. She trusted that his results were correct and wondered why the evidence was shaky.

"You told me the evidence for this case was shaky. I don't see anything I would consider shaky. In fact, this is one of our more straightforward cases, if I'm being honest."

"Look at this," Barry said, coming over. He pointed towards the results of the fingerprints he had found on the ring door handle. "There were multiple fingerprints on the door."

"Well of course you did. Multiple people live there."

"I took the finger prints of everyone in the house and compared them all. One of them didn't match the family. Joe asked if the wife if she and her husband had invited anyone over or had any visitors in the past few days. She said no."

"People lie. Maybe she was having an affair."

"We ruled that out, Kar."

"How? There is really no way to-"

"Please tell me that you two are done being nerds." Kara and Barry turned around to see her adopted sister, Iris West standing in the doorway.

"Iris! What are you doing here? Don't you have class today?" Kara said, rushing to hug her. Barry was close behind.

"My professor's mother died last night or something and no one could cover for him, so I don't have classes today."

"That's horrible!"

"Eh. I feel bad his mom is dead, but I'm not unhappy about missing class," Iris replied.

It had taken her awhile, but Iris had finally decided on her major. She decided to pursue journalism. She had been inspired by the stories Clark and Lois would tell whenever they visited Central City and had chosen that as her major. Kara had almost gone that same route, but in the end, her love for science had won out.

"Well, than maybe you can help us settle an argument. I think a woman might be having an affair, but Barry disagrees. He claims that they somehow 'ruled that out'".

"Hang on. Kara, you're speeding again. Try saying that again," Iris said, pointing out to Kara that was speaking too quickly for either she or Barry to understand.

"Right. Sorry," Kara said, slowing down her words. Sometimes her brain ran much faster than her mouth could, so she sometimes spoke at super speed. Most of the time, it only occurred when she was nervous, stressed, or very excited. Kara repeated what she said, this time slower.

Iris nodded as she took in the argument. "Barry, how did you 'rule out' an affair?"

"Uh...I would rather not discuss that," he replied, his face bright red.

Kara could hear Iris groan slightly as her ears perked up. If she had her dampeners turned off, she would have been able to detect the change in Barry's heat rate. "Barry, you really need to come up with a better answer that doesn't spark her interest like this," Iris warned.

"Too late. I'm extremely interested. What happened?" Kara said, excitedly.

"I-I-I c-can-can't say," he stammered.

"Don't push him, girls," Joe West said, entering the lab. "And you two get back to work."

"We are working. Kara and I disagree on some evidence for the Jefferson case. We already ruled out an affair, which is the reason Kara has landed on for an explanation as to who's fingerprints are on the front door."

Joe looked between she and Barry for a minute. Iris stood to the side of them, typing on her phone. As loyal as she was, Iris typically refused to get in the middle of their arguments, especially when Joe got involved.

"Alright. I'll ask the wife about the affair again. Start working on other cases until I get back with an answer. Don't pretend I didn't notice the large stack of files on your desks, either. Iris, I will see you later. Are you going to hang out here for awhile longer?" Joe said.

"Yeah. Someone has to keep an eye on these two," Iris replied. Joe nodded and kissed both Iris' and Kara's cheek before leaving the lab just as quietly as he entered.

Kara walked back over to her desk where Barry had pulled up a seat. He had apparently finished running all the tests he could, so the only thing to do was to wait. But they had too many files piling up to relax. Iris grabbed another chair to pull up to the table. She kept her phone out to entertain herself. After years of doing homework together, Iris knew that they would be more focused with silence.

"Barry, did you see tha-"

"Yes, I did. Here you go," he said, handing her a a few sheets of paper.

They had been able to do that for years now; they just always seemed to know what the other was thinking. Some people thought they were able to do it was because they were fraternal twins. Kara had lost track of how many times someone had said that to either her or Barry. The truth was that they were just extremely close. As teenagers, they had spent hours together, learning all sorts of things about the other. Eventually, that included learning how the other thought. The finishing of each other's sentences was a side effect of learning that.

Hours passed this way. Kara and Barry sitting silently filling out reports, occasionally stopping for coffee refills and to exchange papers that ended up in the wrong file. Iris left after an hour or so; she had to go home real quick to change for her shift at Jitters. Typically, she worked the morning shift, but a coworker had gotten in a car accident and needed someone to cover the night shift for the next week. It was almost seven when they finished going through the files. After a coin toss, which she lost, Kara had to go deliver the cases to Captain Singh while Barry checked the equipment to ensure that there was no tests running at the moment.  
"Captain?" Kara asked, knocking on the open door.

"West. There you are. Are those the pile of files that has been steadily growing in your lab over the past two weeks?" He said, standing up to grab the stack.

"Yes sir. This is most of it. We are still working on some evidence for the Jefferson case at the moment so we need more time for that."

"I want that file on my desk as soon as you walk in through the elevator doors. No more extensions. Got it, West?"

"Got it, Captain."

"And tell Allen that, too," he shouted to her as she left.

"Yessir."

Barry was sitting on the edge of one of the tables, banging the heel of his feet against one of the legs. "What took you so long?" He asked.

"Singh gave us a deadline for the Jefferson case. Tomorrow morning as soon as we walk through the door, so grab the file. Hopefully, Joe figured out whether or not the wife had an affair," she replied.

As Kara grabbed her coat and bag, Barry grabbed the Jefferson case file and stuffed it inside his bag. Then, they started the walk to the bus stop. Unlike in the morning, they had no set time to live the station. The scientists sometimes spent over-nighters working on high-stress cases, but that was rare. They were still scientists at heart, though, so Kara and Barry would sometimes get sidetracked for hours about the latest article in their favorite medical journal, technological breakthroughs, or famous scientists.  
"Got it. So, dinner or takeout?" Barry asked.

"What do we have in the fridge at home?" He took a moment to think about it.

"I think we have all the ingredients to make spaghetti, but I could be wrong. Do you remember?"

"Barry, I may have an impressive photographic memory, but none of that goes toward remembering what we have in our fridge. You should know this," she replied.

"Right. Sorry, I forgot. I'll just whip something up with whatever we have."

Thankfully, they managed to catch the last bus just before it left the stop. They took their usual seats in the middle of the bus with Kara sitting next to the window. She sat silently staring out the window, tapping her foot to the beat of some song she had heard on the radio.

Their apartment was twenty minutes away from the station. It wasn't the nicest place, but it was all they could afford with two forensic scientists' salaries. The bus stopped about five minutes from the apartment. Ten minutes later, Barry was cooking in their small kitchen while Kara worked on the Jefferson case. "Thanks, Joe," she said, hanging up. "He just confirmed that the wife had an affair. You were wrong, Barry. Pay up."

"We never agreed on betting on it."

"Remember the rule we agreed upon in high school? Whenever we disagree on something and someone else goes to figure out which one it is, twenty bucks are one the line. So, I'll say it again. Pay up."

"We really need to go over the rules we created once again. Cause I don't remember them all," Barry stated, reaching into his wallet. He handed Kara twenty bucks and a plate filled high with food. Then, he grabbed a plate for himself with much less food on it.  
They sat at their small dining room table and dug in. Kara and Barry switched from the topic of work and "rules" they created to speaking about Iris' upcoming birthday and the STAR Lab's particle accelerator being turned on the next day with excitement. They talked for hours, simply enjoying the presence of one another's company.

Little did they know that this night would be the last normal night they experienced ever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I kept forgetting to take chapters over from Wattpad to here. But I'm going to catch up.

Barry jerked awake from his nightmare. It was his mother again. It was almost the 14th anniversary of her death, which always brought Barry nightmares about the man in yellow. The man that had killed his mother.

Running a hand through his messy hair, Barry sat up, kicking the covers off as he stood up. He walked over to the window and opened it. Fresh air streamed into the room and helped calm him. He glanced over at his bedside clock. 2:30 a.m. Barry still had four hours before he had to wake up for work. As he paced around his room, Barry strained his ears for sounds from Kara's room. He didn't want to wake her with the aftermath of another nightmare. Kara already got too little of sleep, due to her superhearing.

He sat on the edge of his bed, in just his boxers, running his hands over his face. There was only way that Barry would be falling back to sleep tonight.  And that required waking her up. Sirens rang out across the city, jerking Barry back to reality. His room was too loud for him to be getting any more sleep tonight. Kara's room was on the inner side of the apartment building, which made her room one of the quietest in the entire apartment. So, he stood up and quietly walked over to Kara's room. He didn't bother to knock and instead just slipped in her covers. They had had done this enough that it wasn't strange or unusual for them to seek comfort in each other.

"Barry? Is that you?" Kara murmured sleepily, rolling over to face him.

"Yeah, it's me. Couldn't sleep," he replied. While having just woken up, Kara was awake enough to hear his heartbeat. It was one that she listened to all the time when she didn't have her dampeners in her ears. Barry wouldn't be surprised if she could hear his heart beating fast, something she knew meant that he had had a nightmare. Kara said nothing and just wrapped her arms around him. He relaxed instantly, taking in the heat from the naturally warmer alien and the safety being together brought them both.

When they were kids, both Barry and Kara had difficulty sleeping. Kara, because of her super senses. Barry, because he was traumatized from watching his mother die. And they were both too kind-hearted to wake Joe up every time it happened. He had enough problems as it was during the day with them; they didn't want to add nightmares to the list. They were fourteen when both Barry and Kara were awake at the same time one night. Most of the time Barry stayed in his room and read a book or stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep again. But, one time, Barry had gotten bored in his room, staring at the ceiling, so he came downstairs to find something to do. As it turns out, Kara had already beat him to it. She was watching reruns of an old show that neither of them knew the name of.

_"Can I join you?" Barry whispered. Kara was still jumpy around loud noises sometimes, so he made sure to whisper._

_"Plenty of room. Can't sleep?"_

_"Nope. You?"_

_"Of course not. The city is loud tonight. Sirens keep going off everywhere. I came down here to find something else to listen to, but it's not exactly working." Barry looked closely at the girl who had recently started living with them. She seemed stressed, not that there wasn't always a certain level of stress present in her, but more so than usual. Suddenly, Barry remembered something his mom used to do for him when he had panic attacks. He had a hunch that it might help her out, too._

_"Then listen to me. Come here," Barry beckoned, opening his arms. Kara looked unsure and hesitated._

_"Why?"_

_"Just trust me. Do you trust me?" Kara nodded and moved towards Barry. He was one of the few people who knew and kept her secret, making her trust him. Barry shifted them both until Kara's ear was right over his heart. She instantly calmed visibly. The stress seemed to melt from her shoulders. All too soon, she fell asleep, listening to his heart beat. Eventually, Barry, enveloped in her warmth, fell asleep too._

Ever since, Kara and Barry had come to each other for sleep. Physical touch calmed them in ways that many would never understand.

Hours later, Barry woke up from a peaceful sleep to an empty bed. Sunlight filtered in through the window that Kara had pushed open. She was most likely up getting food before they headed to work.

Barry exited the room to find Kara sitting at the counter, reading something on her laptop. A cup of coffee lay beside her, as well as a few bagels from the small cafe down the street. It wasn't the best place in the city, but it was cheap, which was important. The amount of money they spent on food alone was insane. Kara had to eat about three times the normal amount for a human, which increased their grocery bills immensely.

"There's bagels by the stove if you want them," she said, alerting Barry that she was aware of his presence.

"Thanks. Coffee?"

"Still in the pot."

"Thanks. What are you looking at, Kar?" He asked, heading over to the coffee machine.

"Just looking over a few articles discussing the effects of the particle accelerator being turned on tonight. It's quite interesting," she said, pulling up the results. Barry walked over and set his full mug next to Kara's. His eyes scrunched as he read the results.

"Really? What are they saying?"

"They are saying that the accelerator could change the way we think about modern medicine and such, but many are concerned with the cons of it. Experts are worried about what could happen if something goes wrong with the accelerator. If something big happens, and let's face it, anything wrong with a particle accelerator is deadly, it could potentially damage the city and its people."

"Interesting. I'll have to take a look. Our fridge is looking a little lonely. Do you have time to get groceries tonight or should I?" He asked sitting  down. Kara frowned and turned her head towards the fridge. Based on the look she had on her face, Kara was using her X-ray vision to see inside the fridge.

"I should. Hopefully. Alright," Kara said standing up and stretching  her arms above her head, "I'm going to shower and get dressed. Oh! Iris called. Apparently, it's trivia night at Jitters tonight as well and she wants us to be there."

Iris worked at a very popular coffee shop near the police station called Jitters. Once a month or so, they held a trivia night. Teams of three or four would enter an hour long competition, answering questions about any and all topics. With Barry and Kara's academic knowledge and Iris' knowledge of everything else, they were an unstoppable force.

"That's only to make her look good. And tell her that we can only make it after the accelerator turns on," he replied, grabbing his coffee mug. Taking a sip, he grimaced as he realized that he had accidently grabbed Kara's mug. She liked her coffee black, while Barry preferred to add some cream and sugar. He sat at the kitchen table for a few more minutes, drinking his coffee. Then, finally feeling awake enough, Barry set off towards his bedroom to get dressed.

Kara was waiting for him when he emerged. She was dressed in her usual clothing of a blouse, white and blue stripes, blue jeans, and a navy blazer with black Converse. Her brown messenger bag was on the counter next to Kara's still open laptop. The article she had been reading earlier was still on the screen.

"Are you ready? I want to get the station soon so there is a small possibility of getting a break," He asked, squinting at the screen.

"Yep. You can drop off the file for the Jefferson case to Singh as soon as we get in," she said, standing up.

"Wait...me?!" Barry squeaked. "Why me? I made you dinner!"

"First of all, I am not allowed to cook. You know this. And I grabbed breakfast this morning, so that makes us equal."

"Fine. Let's go. Singh is going to kill us if we miss the bus again."

Barry grabbed his own bag from the couch before opening the door for Kara. She gave him a muttered "thanks" as she swept past him, pushing her glasses up her nose. For a moment, Barry could smell the sweet smell of the vanilla and lavender perfume that Kara always wore. He made sure that she didn't notice if he walked a little closer to her today than normal. God, Iris was right. He was in deep.

A few months ago, all three of them had been at dinner at Joe's for their weekly Sunday dinner when Iris approached him. Barry had been sitting in the living room, nursing a beer. Joe was cooking in the kitchen and Kara was reading a book on the kitchen counter with her dampeners turned up all the way. Iris had caught him looking at Kara and brought up the topic.

She had forced him to admit his feelings for Kara. Iris apparently had been waiting for them to get together since middle school and showed her support by telling Barry to tell the Kryptonian how he really felt. But every time he thought he had worked up the courage to tell Kara, Barry's nerves got the best of him.

Because Kara West (Zoe-El) was amazing. She was smart, funny, witty, and one of the kindest people he had ever met. Despite all the horror and trauma she had endured, Kara was still kind, which Barry found himself admiring.

Iris had nodded when he told her all this and said, _"God, you're in deep. Get a move on before that girl is scooped up by another guy. She won't wait forever, Bar."_

And there had always been strange quirks in their relationship that made people think they were dating. The similar outfits and demeanor, the seemingly permanent awkwardness, and how they seemed to communicate without words. But that wasn't even the half of it. On each other's birthdays, they made breakfast to be eaten in bed; they shared a bed on rough nights; hell, they even saw each other in various states of undress constantly.

It probably didn't help that they had lived together for thirteen years either.

"Bar? You okay?" Kara asked on the bus.

"Y-Yeah. Just fine," he breathed. She gave him a strange look, but said nothing, which Barry was thankful for. Kara understood privacy; she wouldn't force him to say anything if he wasn't ready.

"K...oh. Here's our stop," she stood up.

Barry stood up and allowed Kara to go ahead of him. There were many lessons that Barry kept from his days spent with his mother and father, but the most important had always been: be a gentleman. No woman could turn down a bit of chivalry every once in awhile.

The morning passed unusually fast. There were no open cases for the moment, so they worked on their reports while listening to people debate the opening of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator. They received a case in the afternoon before lunch, which they had to push back to get to the crime scene. Before they left, Barry stole one of Kara's chocolate bars, taking a few bites before focusing on running.

Kara was already at the crime scene when he arrived. Since she was the head forensic scientist for the CCPD, it was a given that she would be there first to properly process evidence. By the time, Barry had arrived, Kara had finished photographing the scene.

"You stole one of my chocolate bars," she said as a greeting.

"I was hungry. And it kind of got me out of trouble with Singh," Barry said, squatting to assist.

"Yeah right. He's still giving you dirty looks. Just be happy I left early to process. Otherwise, we'd both be in the doghouse."

Barry opened his mouth to reply, but Kara gently jabbed him in the abdomen with her elbow. Singh, Joe, and his partner were standing by and waiting for their initial report. Kara lowered her glasses for a moment before wandering off. _Great_ , he thought. _Thank you, Kara, for leaving me to fight the fire alone._

He did his best to give the police a brief summary of what he had found so far. It didn't go well. Barry was just happy when everyone left him to his work. Kara, the little sneak, returned as soon as they left. She had a few clear bags clutched in her gloved hands, which she placed inside her case.

"You left me to fight the fire alone, Kar."

"Eh. You did alright," she said.

Barry looked up from the ground, "Technically, you are the one supposed to be giving these briefings to Singh and the rest."

"That's just a formality," Kara waved him off, "If I wanted you to, I could make you do the briefings all the time. But I won't. I'm nice like that."

"Thanks," he deadpanned.

"No problem."

A few minutes later, they started packing up their cases. Kara, who had apparently racked up too much overtime, was forced to go home early. Barry felt sorry because he knew that was partially his fault. With his recent trip to Starling City, Kara had had to cover for him at work soon after she got back from Matthew Kent's birth, which was no piece of cake.

Barry did not see Kara again until the STAR Labs particle accelerator was about to open. She was waiting for he and Iris, who had come with him, by the entrance in the same clothes she had been working in earlier. She waved her hand to get their attention in the large crowd. Thanks to her height, they were able to find her easily.

"I hear someone was forced to leave work early," Iris said, linking her arm in Kara's.

"Yeah. I racked up too many hours helping to cover for Barry. It's fine, though. I have been looking to have some vacation time soon, so this is just perfect timing."

He knew that was pointed towards him. She wanted to let him know that she did not blame him for her having to work extra. Kara never blamed him for something that was so obviously his fault. If he hadn't already been head over heels, he would be now.

"Well that's perfect. I need help tomorrow coming up with outfits for a date. This new guy is awesome. You'd love him..." And with that, Barry turned out the rest of their conversation. He assumed that it was just a sister thing to help each other out with dating and stuff.

A few minutes later, Barry felt someone elbow him. Iris was getting his attention because the particle accelerator was about to turn on.

Not only seeing Harrison Wells in person, but seeing the accelerator turn on was a dream come true for Barry. He had read hundreds of papers by all different scientists, each with their own view on the matter, to learn all he could about this event. Barry swore he could feel the excitement coming off Kara in waves. She probably understood more of the science than even he did since Kara did grow up on a much more technologically advanced planet. Kara had always excelled in the areas of science and math. She could have started her own tech company right out of high school and made millions, but instead, she stuck right beside him and got a job as a forensic scientist.

All too soon, though, it was over. Barry had left his things at the station in his hurry to get to STAR Labs, so he returned there while Kara and Iris went over to Joe's house for dinner. He shook off the rain and tossed his jacket aside as he walked inside the lab. The lights were all off (the lab was bright enough even without lights because of the large windows), but the computer was still on.

It was tuned into Central City News where the anchor was mentioning something about how something was wrong with the particle accelerator. Moments later they were being told to evacuate the premises and the feed cut out.

There was a bright light as something exploded at STAR Labs. Barry rushed over to the skylight to make sure it was fully closed as the storm got worse. Something made him freeze, though. Looking around, Barry noticed the chemicals floating in the air, just like the night that his mom was killed. Lightening came down through the skylight and everything went dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara was bored. To be honest, it wasn't hard for a genius like herself to be bored, but this was a next level of bored.

She sat on the couch in her and Barry's apartment, watching the news with subtitles on. The city tended to get very loud at night, so she turned her dampeners on all the way up when she got home. She was waiting for Barry to come home.

He had returned to the station after the particle accelerator turned on to finish some work for an hour or two. It shouldn't have taken him this long, but Kara wasn't worried. Barry was late for pretty much everything. Plus, he probably forgot that she was buying dinner for them tonight. He was most likely on his way back from the station carrying four pizza boxes (one for him, three for her). There was no reason to be worried.

Kara got up from the couch and walked over to the fridge to grab a cold bottle of water. As soon as she did, the power went out in her apartment. She looked around, trying to find the source of it.

There was no sign of anything.

She was sure that it could not be the breakers in the building. Buildings were loosing power all over the city. Not to mention, Joe had personally checked their breakers after they experienced a few breakouts last July. Everything was up to code and they didn't make a habit of messing with their apartment's electricity. Something else was going on. Something city wide.

She lowered the power in her dampeners to hear better. Not low enough to hear the panic that was no doubt coursing through Central City, but low enough to be aware and present of her surroundings. Kara quickly sent out a text to Barry, who she hoped would answer right away. Cell service was going to cut out soon and she wanted to make sure Barry was okay before then. After that, she sent out a quick text to Iris. Maybe Barry had reached out to her before the blackout.

An hour passed and Barry had yet to show up. Kara was really starting to get worried now. Barry never ran this late. If he was going to run late (later than usual), he would find a way to let her know. Once they hit high school, Barry, Kara, and Iris promised each other that they would always have their phones on and with them. They honored that promise even now. There had to some reason why Barry hadn't come home yet.

Kara's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a key turning in the lock. There were only four people in the world who had keys to the apartment, including herself and Barry. She turned towards the door and used her X-ray vision to see Iris opening the door.

The whole room was dark since Kara really had no need for lights and she squinted as Iris turned on the lights.

"Iris? What are you doing here? Where's Barry?"

Iris turned her head to the left and sniffled. She had obviously been crying. Something was very wrong. That was the body language Iris had whenever she was about to share bad news. Suddenly, Kara's stomach felt heavy. Barry. Something happened to Barry.

"What happened to Barry?"

"It....it's bad, Kara. Barry was.....he was struck by lightening."

It was like time froze. The outside world seemed to fade away as Iris' words sunk in. Barry was struck by lightening. Lightening. Her mind raced with all the possible outcomes of being struck by a lightening bolt. She almost didn't notice that Iris was trying to get her attention.

"KARA! Look at me," Iris shouted, forcing Kara to look in her the eye.

"Iris?" Kara asked, breathing heavily.

"Yeah, it's me. We have to go to the hospital, Kara. Okay, Eddie is going to drive us." Kara barely felt Iris let go of her to grab her. She hurried over to the counter where Kara had put her glasses when she walked in. She handed them to Kara who put them on feeling numb as they walked outside the apartment. Iris locked the door behind them.

Eddie was waiting for them in his car by the curb. Iris opened the backseat and shoved Kara into the back. Normally, she would never have been able to do so, but Kara was feeling weak. She was much too shocked to do anything but the bare minimum.

Iris did not even try to snap Kara out of her head. There was no point; she was just as shaken as Kara was.

Much to his credit, Eddie brought them to the hospital without a single world said. He pulled up to the curb of the hospital and got out of the car to open the door of them. "Do you want me to come with you?" He asked, bending down to speak to Iris face-to-face.

"No, but thank you, Eddie," Iris said.

Kara felt Iris' hands on her arms, gently pulling her out of the car. She looped their arms together and walked inside the hospital.

Joe was sitting in the busy emergency waiting room in the hospital. It was filled to maximum capacity with injured people. Some of the people were even lying on the floor, writhing in pain as they waited to receive proper care. Kara knew it would probably be a long time. The hospital was still experiencing power outages along with the rest of the city, so they were unable to receive the care they needed.

Iris put her hand on her father's shoulder to alert him to their presence. He stood up and wrapped them both in a hug.

"I am so glad that you both are here right now," Joe whispered as they hugged.

They pulled away and wiped the tears from their eyes. "How is he?" Kara asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that it is not good."

Joe offered his seat to the girls, which Kara quickly declined. She was far too nervous to sit down and just wait for Barry to be okay. It was not in her nature.

Kara hated hospitals. She had never been quite sure of why she did not like them, but she had not even liked them on Krypton. It might have something to do with the general feeling of hopelessness and sadness that seemed to cover every inch of the place.

"Hey, Joe. Let me know what the doctor says about Barry. I have to get out of here." She did not stick around to hear his answer. Instead, she hurried out to the back of the hospital where no one was. Kara took into the sky, heading straight to Metropolis.

Clark had just finished burping Matthew when Kara flew inside. She rushed right off to him and hugged him tightly. He seemed surprised, but wrapped an arm around her after a moment's hesitation. She failed to notice Lois grabbing Matthew from Clark's arms and wander off to give the cousins some privacy.

"Kara? What's going on?" He asked, pulling away back to look his cousin in the eye. "What happened?"

He couldn't make out much of what she said except for something about Barry and lightening. Whatever it was, Clark could tell that it wasn't good. He made a mental note to talk to Joe once Kara calmed down.

"Here, sit down on the couch," Clark said, guiding Kara to the couch where he pulled her into his shoulder. It only caused her to cry harder. She cried herself to sleep and only once he knew that Kara was out for the night did Clark move.

The first thing he did was call Lois back into the room. With Matthew fast asleep, they could converse freely. They had heard about the STAR Labs explosion when it happened since it was national news. He had thought that Kara, Barry, Iris, and Joe were perfectly okay. While Kara had mentioned that both she and Barry had wanted to see the particle accelerator turn on, she had told them that they left early because Iris' laptop had been stolen. Apparently, it had killed the celebratory mood.

Kara texted him on her way home to let him know what was going on, and to tell him to wish her godson goodnight. Clark had spent enough time in the West household to know that Barry and his cousin were attached to the hip; he thought they had been walking home together. Kara would protect Barry from anything, including a lightening bolt. If Barry was hurt, then Kara was not with him.

"I haven't her this bad since she first came here, Lois. Whatever happened....it's bad."

"Have you talked to Joe yet?"

"Not yet. I wanted to tell you first. I thought that maybe you could talk to her. I can only do so much here," Clark said, running a hand through his hair.

"Then, take her away from here, Clark. Martha has always been able to reach her in a way that you, I, or Joe, or even Barry can't."

"I can't leave you alone with Matthew."

"Matthew and I will be fine. Kara needs you more than we do right now. Spending time at Kent Farm somehow always makes you two relax and unwind."

"What would I do without you, babe?"

"Good thing you will never have to find out."

Clark smiled as he drew Lois into an embrace and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Matthew started crying, breaking the silence. Lois waved him off, saying that she would handle their son. He put a blanket over his cousin and a soft pillow under her head quietly and slowly so as to keep Kara asleep. She only shifted a few times, but went back to sleep immediately.

The first call Clark made was to Joe. It reached his voicemail and Clark left a short message stating that Kara was with him and she was fine, albeit sad. He also asked Joe to update him on what happened with Barry since Kara was still far too emotional to say much through her heavy tears. 

The next call he made was to his mother, Martha Kent. She was overjoyed to find out they were visiting the farm for a few days despite the horrible circumstances. Martha could always use more help around the farm and was not above asking for the help of two superpowered aliens. He spent a few more minutes on the phone talking with his mother before finally hanging up. 

Then, Clark laid out on the far end of the couch and put his cousin's feet on his lap. The long day proved to be exhausting to the superhero and he quickly fell asleep.

_~_ Running Home to You~

Harrison Wells lay in a bed in STAR Labs where he was spending the night. All his employees had left quickly after the accelerator blew to check on their families. He stared at the ceiling with a smirk on his face.

Everything was going perfectly according to his carefully crafted plan. In nine months, he would finally be able to begin the next stage of his plan. The plan to train the fastest man alive to help him get home. Harrison closed his eyes and reveled in the satisfaction of everything finally going his way.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Kara sat on the edge of a truck bed with an untouched root boor next to her. She could see Clark in the barn, tossing bundles of hays into the hayloft with ease.

It had been a week since the STAR Labs particle accelerator explosion in Central City. A day after the explosion, Clark had dragged Kara out of bed and forced her onto an airplane to Smallville with Martha Kent waiting on the other side. He did not have to say why they were going because Kara knew without saying anything.

Whenever Kara was feeling overwhelmed or just needed a moment away from people, Clark took her to Kent Farm. He and Martha would put her to work which succeeded in distracting her from whatever was bothering her. This time was no different. Well...except for one thing.

Kara felt like part of her soul was missing since the explosion.

She and Barry had become very fast friends. They had both experienced the excruciating loss of a parent (both really because Barry could hardly see his dad). At first, that was how they bonded. Then, Barry had taken it upon himself to help Kara adjust to Earth culture, which he got Iris to agree to. They grew close until one day it was like they were twins separated at birth. She felt that loss keenly and no amount of work would change that fact for Kara.

Iris and Joe had both called her to let know that Barry was stable and when he had another seizure. They sounded just as sad as Kara felt. She knew that there was little chance that Barry would wake up; surviving a lightning strike was hard, especially in a city that was experiencing power outages.

"How are you doing?"

Kara looked up to see Martha Kent standing before her. If Joe was Kara's foster father, then Martha was her foster mother. She had taken Kara under her wing without hesitation. Kara also felt deeply grateful for the older woman taking in Clark as a baby. It was not easy raising a Kryptonian teenager, but raising one as a baby was even worse. The Kents had not even known what they were getting themselves into from the beginning, but they still raised Clark as if he were their own, which he was in every way but blood. They had completed Kara's mission much easier than Kara thought that she would have alone.

"I'm okay."

"Kara, I have known you since the first week you came to Earth. Even then, you were always telling people that you were fine when you actually weren't. You don't have to be fine all the time."

"I have to be, Martha. Because if I'm not fine all the time, then I focus on all that I've lost."

"And it's okay to do that every once in a while so that you remember where you came from. Barry is going to be okay, honey. There is no way that he would leave you without saying goodbye, and even if you two had said goodbye, it would still be very hard for him to leave you."

Kara flinched slightly at the mention of Barry's name. Martha gently grabbed Kara's hand and squeezed it with her own asa gesture of comfort. "How do you know that, Martha?"

"Because he looks at you like you are the sun to his universe. Someone who looks at you like that is not going to leave without saying goodbye."

The young woman nodded and moved off the truck bed with her root beer in hand towards a large tree along the edge of the property. Clark had helped Kara, Barry, and Iris build a treehouse in that tree the summer when the kids were fifteen. They had all spent hours in that treehouse messing around, telling stories, and doing other typical teenager stuff. Now, they hardly spent any time there. It was a reminder to Martha of how much the three kids had grown. Martha let Kara wander off as her son approached.

"How is she?"

"I think she is as well as can be expected. Any news?"

"Joe called. Barry had another seizure."

"Damn."

"And he received an offer from the one and only Harrison Wells to help treat him at STAR Labs, which he accepted."

"I can hardly blame him. The doctors don't know what's going on with Barry. If I were in his shoes, I probably would have made the exact same decision," Martha admitted.

"Yeah. I can't imagine how Kara is going to take it when she finds out." They both knew that Kara was strong: you had to be if you were able to survive your planet exploding. Of course, Kara didn't come out of that unscathed. She did have a whole host of mental health issues that stemmed from that loss, but she never let them drag her down. She woke up each day with a smile on her face and a well of seemingly endless optimism. But even Kara had her limits. Maybe the loss of Barry was finally that limit.

"I don't either. There is one solution however that could help Kara get her mind off it without keeping her on the farm until Barry wakes up."

"And what's that, Ma?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Clark Jonathon Kent."

"She has never shown any interest in that, Ma," Clark said, as he caught sight of her knowing look. "She has even turned me down every time I've asked her."

"Maybe this will change all that. It may...inspire her to take up the cape. And while I certainly will worry over her, just as much as I do you, I believe that you are both called to save people. And more than just working as a journalist or forensic scientist."

He nodded, contemplating his mother's words. She patted his hand and went back into the house, probably to make dinner for the three of them. It was not easy to feed two fully grown Kryptonians on a normal day. Add in a day's worth of labor and it was almost impossible. Clark looked up to see Kara sitting on the small porch on the outside of the tree house they had built.

He walked over to her, climbing up the wooden ladder. He took a seat next to her after she shifted a bit to make room for him. Clark didn't say anything for a few minutes. He had learned from experience that sometimes it was better if Kara took the first step instead of pushing her. "What do you want?" She asked a few minutes later.

"Just checking on you."

"You don't have to do that, Clark. I'm fine."

"Okay, then. But even if you weren't I'd still have a proposition for you."

"What kind of proposition?"

"...I know that you feel helpless and that there is nothing that you can do. But there is. You can prevent other people from going through what you are going through right now. You know what I am talking about."

"I do...." Kara said nothing else as she turned his offer over in her head. He stayed silent as well to give her time. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she responded with a simple, "I want in."

Clark looked up at her words with a smile on his face. "Really?"

"Really."

"That's fantastic. We start tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

Clark led Kara down what seemed like endless hallways through the Fortress of Solitude. He was dressed in his super suit while Kara was in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. She had been given no time to change that morning before Clark had dragged her out of the bed at the farmhouse without breakfast.

"Hurry up, Kar," Clark said, urging her along. She groaned and stumbled a little bit before catching herself.

"I'm tired and hungry," she complained, rubbing her eyes. Clark hadn't given her time to grab her glasses either. He claimed that they would not been seen in public by anyone, so there was no reason to wear them.

"I promise that this is worth it," Clark replied, coming to a stop before a wall. He placed his hand over a panel and watched as the wall opened up. Inside as a super suit that looked like Clark's but for a female. The top was blue with the symbol of the House of El over the breast and a red skirt with a gold belt. The cape was detachable, just like Clark's and hanging on the side of the closest.

"Is...is this for me?" She asked in shock.

"Yeah. I had Ma make it for you a few months after you arrived here on earth. The cape is made from the blanket I was wrapped in when I came to earth. It's indestructible," Clark said, rubbing the back of his head.

Kara looked at her cousin in shock. She had had no idea that he had done anything like this for her. "Thank you," she said. Kara jumped into her cousin's arms, giving him a big hug.

"Of course. You're family. And since you are going to be training with me, I figured that you might need a suit. Want to try it on?"

"Yeah!"

A few minutes later, Kara met Clark outside of the Fortress. Her hair was out of its messy bun and flowing freely. "How do I look?"

"Like a superhero. Now, let's make you one." For the next few hours, the cousins worked on flying technique and aiming heat vision correctly. For now, Clark wanted to work on the basics with her. They finally ended things when Clark heard an earthquake in Brazil. He took off, leaving Kara behind. Neither of them felt like she was ready to take on something that big yet. So, he left with promises to see her later for lunch.

Kara took off back towards Smallville. Halfway there, she was flying somewhere over downtown National City when Kara was suddenly struck by a dart filled with a green liquid. Kryptonite. As she fell unconscious, she wondered who had access to Kryptonite. 

Weak. That was the first thing Kara felt when she woke up. There was no mistaking the feeling. It was a feeling that she had never felt before, but knew that she could never forget. She tried to move her hands around, but was stopped by something metal around her wrists. Looking down, Kara saw a flash of green. Kryptonite. Clark had told her about the radioactive rock and the people who had access to it. Specifically the DEO. If she had to guess, Kara would say that these were the people who kidnapped her.

A door opened and a tall, black man walked inside the room. He was accompanied by a woman with short brown hair. Both were dressed in all black and had guns holstered on their thighs. There was no logo on either of their shirts, which strengthened Kara's original hypothesis.

"That's high-grade Kryptonite. It's a radioactive substance from your planet. It weakens you," the man stated, crossing his arms.

"I know what it is," Kara said, gritting her teeth. The woman who had entered the room with the man said nothing. She assumed that the man was in charge and the woman was his second-in-command.

"Yes, we figured. You spend quite a lot of time with your cousin," the man began to pace and Kara followed him as best as she could while secured to a metal table.

"Then you should know that I am not a threat."

"Maybe not now," the woman spoke up, "But you could be one day. The attack on Metropolis with Superman's uncle. That was a fight between two Kryptonions that ended up causing thousands of innocent people's deaths. Look me in the eye and say that you don't think we should consider you a threat."

"You don't know me," Kara said.

"Actually, I do. You grew up in the home of Joe West along with Iris West and Barry Allen. You went to college in Metropolis with Mr. Allen and then moved back home afterwards and took a job with the CCPD as a forensic scientist, once again with Mr. Allen. You recently took a leave of absence after your friend was struck by lightening. You moved in with your cousin who decided to train you," the woman said. Kara felt a strong sense of dread settle in her stomach.

"You know so much about me, but I know nothing about you. I said I wasn't a threat, let me prove that to you. It's kind of hard to prove whether or not I'm a threat in handcuffs," Kara said.

"Director?" The woman asked.

"Very well. Uncuff her," the man ordered. The woman pressed a few buttons on the side of each of the cuffs and they came loose. Kara sat up, rubbing her hands. "Thanks. Now, do you care to explain why you kidnapped me?"

"Threat assessment."

"And how much of a threat did you assess me to be?"

"....We are unsure as of now as to how much of a threat you are. You would be considered less of a threat if you would become an agent."

"An agent of the DEO, you mean," Kara replied, leveling both of them with a sharp glare. Clark had also warned her that they would try to recruit her. They had tried to recruit him, too, when he first emerged as Superman. He said that it was her choice; she should just know the truth about the organization. Based off of what Clark had told her, Kara knew what the best choice was. "Yes."

Kara hummed, as if she was pretending to think. "Thanks for the offer, but I prefer to work on my own. Now, if you don't mind, I'll see myself out."

She slid herself off of the table and headed out of the room. Neither the man or the woman said anything to stop her. A guard standing outside of the door led her to the exit without a word. Kara took off as soon as she stepped foot, in what was the desert. She didn't stop flying until she reached the balcony of Clark and Lois' apartment. Martha had known that she would be returning to Metropolis after training at the Fortress of Solitude. She and Clark decided to start training her to handle small crimes in Metropolis. 

Lois was inside cooking dinner when she arrived with Matthew gurgling in his high seat. She looked up when Kara walked inside. Kara ignored her questions and instead headed straight to the couch, ignoring Matthew's happy gurgles over the sight of his favorite aunt. Within seconds, she had fallen asleep.

_Kara was in a penthouse. A REALLY nice penthouse. She was standing in the kitchen, typing something on a laptop. She tried to see it, but when Kara got closer the words got more blurry. Still, she continued typing. Pushing back a stray piece of hair, Kara felt a Bluetooth headset on her ear. Odd. She had never needed one before. All of a sudden, feet bounded down the stairs._

_"Mom, hurry up! We're going to be late!" Two girls rounded the corner, entering the kitchen. They both grabbed bags from the chairs next to the counter. Both the girls looked like spitting images of herself, but their eyes. Their eyes were not blue. They were a warm, milky brown that reminded Kara so much of Barry. Somehow, Kara felt like she knew them._

_"Yeah, mom!" The other girl shouted. Kara could tell that they were twins. The resemblance was too uncanny for them to be anything else. They each wore a pair of glasses and wore their hair the same, but dressed very differently. Based off their height (though if they were her children, it was a possibility they had gotten the height from her), Kara concluded that they were probably in high school. Which was impossible. Kara had only graduated from college a few years before and she didn't even have a boyfriend._

_The first girl Kara had seen was dressed much like Kara would. She had jeans, sneakers, a blouse, and a cardigan. A leather bag was also swung over one shoulder, just like how Kara wore it. The other girl was dressed in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. She had backpack straps over both shoulders._

_"Alura! Nora! Oh, there you two are."_

_"Where's dad?" The more athletic looking twin asked._

_"He's just getting Brandon. Are you two ready?" she found herself asking._

_"Yep. Why can't Alura and I just drive to school, mom?" The first girl who Kara had seen asked. Kara now knew the names of both the twins. Footsteps revealed Barry walking down the stairs, holding a baby. The sight of the baby almost overruled the sight of Barry, alive and healthy. The baby, Brandon, had dark brown hair, just like Barry's. He was sucking happily on a binky and whined at the sight of his mother._

_"My baby," older Kara said, reaching to take Brandon. The baby gurgled happily as he was transferred to his mother's arms. Wait...mother's? Kara was a mother? That was impossible. She didn't even have a boyfriend. Kara thought for a moment. If she was their mother, then that meant...she was married to Barry Allen. But that was impossible. He was in a coma right now because of a stupid lightening bolt. And Kara didn't like him like that....did she?_

_"Hi girls. Nora, we're going to be home late tonight, so can you babysit Brandon?" Barry asked, packing a few things into a baby bag._

_"Did you grab diapers?" Older Kara asked._

_"Ah no. Knew I forgot something. Be right back," Barry said, speeding off. He had superpowers? Since when? But somehow, none of it felt strange. It felt like being home. Barry was back in a second, holding several diapers. "Got 'em." Since when did Barry had super speed? Or powers in general? Now, Kara was sure that it was just a dream. There was no possible way that Barry had super powers. It just wasn't scientifically possible._

_"Yeah sure. I love spending time with my favorite sibling," Nora cooed._

_"Hey, what about me?" Alura asked, raising an eyebrow._

_"We shared a womb, sis. You have your moments where I love you," Nora replied, smirking. Alura scoffed._

_Kara wasn't sure what this was, but she loved it. She felt a sense of peace and happiness that she had dreamed of since leaving Krypton._

Kara jerked awake, still caught in her dream. She immediately felt cut off from whatever she had seen. That feeling of happiness....Kara had almost forgotten what it felt like. She had had a lot of reasons not to smile since Barry was struck by lightening.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Clark said. Kara jumped as she saw her cousin squatting next to the couch. He was dressed in his civilian clothes now. "Hey, yourself."

"Lois just finished dinner and wanted me to wake you up."

"Dinner? What?" Kara asked, looking around the room for a clock. She had no idea so much time had passed while she was sleeping. "Yeah, dinner. You slept for hours, Kar, according to Lois. You flew in the window and collapsed on the couch. Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Yeah......let's just not talk about it right now. I'll tell you everything later."

"Will you?" Clark asked, mentioning the fact that Kara had a tendency to keep things to herself. "Yeah. But after I go see Barry."

"Fine," Clark said, standing up. He wanted to protest more, but the look Kara gave him silenced his protests. She would tell him everything later, just in her own time.

During dinner, Lois kept giving the both of them strange looks. She didn't need super hearing to know something had happened, after being the mediator between the cousins on many occasions. Kara stayed silent throughout the meal. She was too busy reflecting on that dream she had about her and Barry in the future.

It had to have been some sort of trick; something that would make her believe that Barry would wake up soon, if at all. The doctors had not held very much hope for him as his coma went on for a third week. As much as Kara wanted Barry to be okay, she couldn't put her hope and faith into a dream. After all, dreams just happened in her head. They weren't real, right?


	6. Chapter 6

Kara looked up at the sky with a strange look on her face. It wasn't forecasted to rain today and Kara always made sure to check the forecast before she left home. Clark had always thought her weird for doing so. Rainstorms always reminded her of Krypton exploding. While she had been unable to hear the explosion since she was already in space, thunder was how she imagined it would sound like. Barry had made her promise to always tell him when it was going to rain so that he could be there to help keep her calm if needed. Without him, she had no idea how she was going to cope. A strange feeling swirled in her gut. She pulled up the collar of her blazer and ran.

She was thankful for her higher body temperature as she ran through the rain. Any other person would have the chills by now, but Kara barely felt the cold because of her very fast metabolism, which was a useful thing to have because she was constantly running around the city to various crime scenes (even in the rain). It took her twenty minutes after she left her apartment to reach Main Street Bank in the pouring rain. She tried to shake off a bit of the water that had collected on her clothes and hair before entering the scene. Flashing her badge as she entered, Kara took in the mess inside that was the bank. "What the hell happened here?" She asked, approaching Joe. Unlike her, he was perfectly dry. Perks of driving and carrying an umbrella.

Glass seemed to cover every inch of the floor. None of the windows were broken, but all the glass inside the bank seemed to be broken, even the glass blocking the teller stands. The floor was covered in water puddles despite none of the windows being broken. Kara knew that it was not from her because she had just arrived and the puddles were in places that she had not even been yet. It was almost like the storm outside had occurred inside the bank, too.

"No idea. At first, I assumed someone shot out the glass up here, but no one heard any gunshots," Joe replied, jotting down a few notes in his notebook. 

"That does nothing to explain the water, Joe."

"No one has a clear explanation on that. All the witnesses are traumatized enough that they don't even remember what the robber looked like." 

Kara took a moment to look over the big picture before she put on a pair of gloves and crouched low to the ground to find the smaller details. It did not take her long to formulate a theory about what happened at this bank. "I can't make any promises, but it's almost as if a really strong wind blew through here which is impossible since none of the windows are broken. There is no other explanation for it. This mess.....it was man-made."

"How is that possible? There is no way that the storm got inside this building. And there is no way that someone created and controlled a rainstorm inside here."

"Actually, people have tried to develop machines and algorithms to control the weather. A few have gotten fairly close to being successful, but they always blow up before anything can really change. No, I think this is actually more like a mini tornado swept through here. Water can sometimes come with a tornado so that could explain why there are puddles," Kara said, snapping on her gloves. She rummaged around her lab case and grabbed her camera. "Which is also completely impossible," Joe said.

Kara didn't respond to that. To be honest, crime and inexplicable events in Central City had experienced a big jump since the particle accelerator explosion. Sometimes at night in her lab, Kara took off her hearing dampeners and listened to the going ons in the city. She often heard 911 calls about people with strange abilities. That had caused Kara to investigate the calls as Supergirl, but there was no proof. People saw what they saw during traumatic events. Although, it was strange that many seemed to share the same stories. If that was not reason to investigate, then Kara did not know what was anymore. 

This string of bank robberies was the same. At every scene, there seemed to be some kind of storm outside the bank that would suddenly appear out of nowhere and somehow get inside. Kara knew that these robberies could not have been done by a human; no humans possessed the ability to control the weather. Joe would certainly not think that it was an alien or enhanced human. Despite raising an alien himself, the man seemed to believe that the crimes were strange, but not alien level strange.

That caused Kara to think about Barry. She had always believed him and her gut (her gut had yet to prove her wrong). He always claimed that since his best friend was the impossible, it meant that his mother's killer could be the impossible, too. So, taking in her comatose friend's belief that the impossible was real, Kara decided to investigate whenever she got the chance. "Maybe. Someone might have built some type of weather machine to control the weather. There is no other explanation for it. It wasn't even supposed to rain today," she countered. 

"You said that most of those machines blow up before they can really do anything."

"True, but it is possible that someone actually achieved it. Scientists are discovering new things all the time and creating inventions that everyone thought impossible. I would not be surprised if a weather machine was invented, but it would also probably go haywire and create a monster storm. You know, that was actually in a show-"

Joe motioned for her to stand up, pulling her aside from the other officers and detectives in the bank. 

"Listen to me, Kara. Do not go spreading around ideas like that. It is impossible for someone to control the weather," he said.

"So am I. You know, there was a time that everyone believed aliens did not exist. Certainly proved them wrong, didn't we?"

"Don't say that so loud. You never know who is listening."

"Joe, come on! If aliens are real, people with powers can be, too."

"No, they are not. Aliens are real, yes, and they have better technology than we do. Superhumans are not. I don't want to hear about this again," Joe said, walking off. Kara huffed before resuming her work. About twenty minutes later, she decided that she had collected enough evidence to run tests needed. When she emerged from the bank the sun was now out, almost as if it had never rained to begin with.

Her phone buzzed halfway to the station. Checking the caller I.D., Kara picked up saying, "Please tell me that Joe did not call you to talk to me."

"No, why? Did you two have another fight? You know that he is not happy about your decision to reveal yourself," Iris replied. Joe had not taken Kara's reveal very well. He had come over to her apartment once she returned from Metropolis to confront her which resulted in a very loud argument and they had parted ways angry. They still had not quite forgiven the other yet.

"It's my decision, though. Not his. But that's not the point. Why'd you call?"

"I'm writing an article on this guy. Apparently, he is some kind of scientist receiving a reward of some kind and I have to interview him. And I need someone to explain the sciency stuff for me. Can you do it? Please, Kara, please. I need this article for my journalism class," Iris begged. Unlike Kara and Barry, Iris had taken much longer to determine what her major was going to be and longer to fulfill it. She seemed to have been inspired by Clark and Lois and decided to follow in their footsteps.

"What do I get in return?" Kara asked, walking up the steps to the station.

"Besides the opportunity to help your sister?" Iris replied, "Fine. Lunch on me." Kara cursed in Kryptonese, knowing that her sister had cornered her. She could never turn down free food and Iris knew it. "Great! I'll see you when you get here!" Iris said, hanging up.

"Wait, where?" Kara said to the phone. She resumed her cursing as she entered the lab. The door was already open, revealing Iris. She was sitting in Kara's chair, typing on her phone. "How did you know that I was on my way over here?"

"That's a secret. Ready to go to lunch?" She said, hopping off the chair.

"What? I am so confused," Kara whispered. Iris gave her a look and patted her check as she left the lab. Kara put down her case on a table with a sticky note on top saying _Run tests on stuff_ for later. Her phone buzzed again. "Iris, I have to go," Kara said. She had hacked into the CCPD (illegal, but she was good enough not to get caught) on her phone to receive alerts of crimes going on in Central City.

"What?" Iris asked, looking up from her phone. She walked back into the lab to see it empty. A sticky note was right next to Kara's leather bag on a chair saying _Another robbery happening. BRB._

"Thanks for the warning!" Iris shouted to the empty lab. "Great. Now, I'm talking to an empty room. Why am I still talking?"

Across the city, Kara was flying towards another bank. Using her X-ray vision, Kara saw one man standing in the middle of the bank, with his arms out. Strangely, a large cloud of fog had formed just above the bank and the surrounding area. It was so thick that even with her enhanced vision, Kara could not see through it. She would have to rely on her X-ray vision.

Police had yet to arrive at the scene. Kara had memorized response times a long time ago, and knew that they would not arrive in time. The fog was slowly getting bigger. Kara had to find a way to stop it before someone got hurt because of it. She flew inside on the bank, where the fog was the heaviest. She spent several minutes looking around the bank and the surrounding area to find the robber, to no avail. By the time police arrived on the scene, the fog was beginning to dissipate.

"The fog provided cover for the robber to escape. I was unable to see the man's face, his back was turned," Kara said to a police officer. He wrote down the info she had given him and rushed off. Joe was nearby, giving her looks. She ignored it and took off.

She flew back to her and Barry's apartment and snuck in through a window that she had started leaving open. The apartment was dark and empty, a stark contrast to how it used to be. Kara and Barry were no party animals, in fact they only had a few friends between them (mostly from college) and every one of them were now spread out across the country. Most of the time, Kara and Barry were up late because they were discussing various scientific theories or experiments published in their favorite science journals as they tried to avoid nightmares.

Despite having lousy heating, the apartment always seemed warm too, and it was not Kara's higher body temperature that was the reason. The apartment had its drawbacks, but it was home. It was the first place that they had bought together after college.

Kara walked into her bedroom to change out of her super suit. As she changed, she thought about how Barry would have reacted to her becoming a superhero. He would have been worried about her, but still excited all the same.

They had spoken about it once, in college, after Clark had offered to train her as a superhero again. Unlike all the other times he had asked her, Kara had not turned him down immediately. Instead, she took time to consider the offer and what it would mean for her and her family. She told Barry about Clark's offer and his answer had surprised her.

_"You could do it, you know. Be a superhero," Barry said, lying down on Kara's bed in her dorm. Her roommate was at class, so they had the room to themselves to talk freely._

_"I don't know. That was always Clark's thing."_

_"Hey, if you did become a superhero, I could be like your tech guy. The guy who helps solve crimes from the safety of a van while you save the day by punching the hell out of bad guys. I can see it now. We both have really cool codenames and a secret way to communicate."_

_"How did I not know about this secret fasicination of yours? I thought you tell me everything," Kara teased._

_"I do tell you everything," he replied, sitting up and grabbing some pretzels from the bowl on Kara's desk, "You and I have never discussed you becoming a superhero before, though."_

_"True."_

_At the beginning, Kara had been far too young to be a superhero like her cousin. She had also been in a pretty bad place, which took her years to get out of. And despite being on Earth for years now, Kara still found herself in that place sometimes on really bad days, which she was finally starting to get better from. With fewer bad days, it seemed that Clark had decided it was time to start offering training._

_"But you also know_   why _I refused to be a superhero. We're in college, Bar. And as Joe would say, 'we need to enjoy being kids.'"_

_"After college, then. We take maybe a few months or years, it's up to you, to get settled in wherever we end up. Then, and only then, will we talk about it again. Deal?"_

_"Deal. Now, come on, we need to finish this project and if you want me to use my speed, we have to hurry before my roommate comes back."_

Kara had completely forgotten that they had ever had that conversation. Clark had offered her the chance to train a few more times after that conversation, which she always replied by saying that she was not ready. But she had always been comforted by the fact that when the time came for her to be a superhero, Barry would be there to support her, to help her.

They had never even brought up the conversation again after that. And now, she was a superhero, but she did not have Barry by her side, like they promised each other so long ago. Perhaps it was a message to her of some kind, but Kara did not care. She was tired. Tired of crying, of being alone. Maybe being Supergirl was going to help her survive life without Barry for however long he remained in a coma for. For now, she would be the hero that Barry had always seemed to know she could be. 


	7. Chapter 7

The lab was an absolute mess. Papers were scattered everywhere, even on the floor. There was at least four whiteboards in the room, plus what looked like a few more in a corner. Photos from multiple open cases were located on the boards. Laboratory tools covered multiple tables in seemingly no particular order, but then again, all scientists had different ways of arranging equipment. From first glance, it was evident some of the tools needed repairs or replacing.

All in all, the lab was a complete disaster. It looked more like a mad scientist's lair than a crime lab.

Julian Albert stared at the CCPD Crime Lab in something akin to shock. He had never seen a lab this messy before. Labs were typically kept clean and organized to prevent any accidents from causing too much damage (it was a science lab; accidents were bound to happen).

He had known that things were bad when he was asked to fill a temporary position here. Police departments, especially CCPD, never asked for temporary positions unless they were truly desperate.

"Uh..I'm sorry. You are?" A young woman asked, entering the lab. She had blonde hair that was thrown up into a messy bun and her glasses were slightly crooked. She was dressed in clothes that looked as if they had been laid out on the floor all night because the blouse and blazer she wore were both very wrinkled and disheveled. When she turned her head to look out the window, Julian noticed dark blue devices in her ears that could only be hearing aids. She either had not been born deaf or she had gone to years of speech therapy because without the hearing aids, Julian would not have noticed that she was hard of hearing.

"Julian Albert. I'm the new forensic scientist here, temporarily at least," he said, reaching out his hand.

"Kara West. I-i-it's n-nice to...m-meet you. I'm the head forensic scientist here at CCPD," she stuttered, only managing to gain her composure towards the end of her sentence. She shook in his hand in a surprisingly hard grip before letting go to put her stuff down on a table.

"Nice to meet you," he replied.

"You can set up here," Kara said, gesturing to a table set aside from the rest, "Hopefully, this should work for you."

"Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, do you have difficulty hearing?"

"Yeah, I was in an accident when I was twelve. Lost most of my hearing, but I can work just fine. It doesn't hinder my work, I assure you," she replied. Julian imagined that she got criticism for that a lot in their line of work with how quickly she became defensive.

"Oh no, it's no problem. I was just wondering if I needed to use sign language. Took sign in high school as an elective and became fluent."

"Oh that's nice. Yeah, I get criticized a lot for having these guys in," Kara said, fingering her hearing aids.

Kara moved away to the other side of the room to grab a few files from her desk and gently put them on his new desk. "These are some of our open cases. I'm writing the reports up for a few of them, so you don't have to worry about doing those. You should also know that the equipment here leaves much to be desired."

"What do you mean? I thought CCPD has one of the best crime labs in the country."

"That's a lie," Kara replied, pushing up the nose of her glasses. "We used to be, but all our equipment is outdated. Barry, my partner, and I have made dozens of official requests for new equipment, but they have all been denied. If we need to run tests with equipment that is broken or finicky, we normally reach out to Mercury Labs. They open their facilities for us to use."

Julian was not quite sure if that was legal, but there was no way he could argue. This was not his first time working in a crime lab. He knew how high the demand for results could be from detectives and even the police captain. He also knew why results were demanded so quickly, but one would think they would provide good equipment to get results faster. Good equipment was required to receive good results.

That was clearly not the case here.

He reminded himself that it was just until Kara's partner...Barry Allen (if Julian was remembering things correctly) woke up from his coma and returned to work. Then, he could get back to Keystone City.

Kara seemed to have finished her very quick orientation with him because she moved towards her own table where the paperwork pile was significantly higher than his own. They worked in silence for what seemed like eternity, only stopping to get lunch and the occasional bathroom or coffee break. Kara left more often than he did and would return with her hair slightly tousled like she had been driving in a car with the windows down. He knew that she was not leaving for cases because she never took her case with her. Thankfully, it was a slow day, meaning just mainly paperwork, which meant that she could get away with leaving all the time.

It was two hours after lunch that Kara received a phone call, which Julian left her to answer in peace. He figured that it meant that she would be leaving the lab again. How she got away with leaving all the time was beyond him. It was not until she called his name that he realized it was not a personal call.

"Albert, there was another bank robbery not far from here. Grab that case in the corner and follow me. I hope you have your running shoes on."

Julian glanced down quickly at his sneakers as he grabbed the case. Kara was wearing an almost exact pair of sneakers as him, so he wondered if she was joking about running. He said as much. "Please tell me that you are joking."

"This job does not pay enough to constantly take the bus or a cab. Besides, its not that far from here. If we leave now, we can be there in ten minutes. Depending on how fast you run a mile."

"First place in almost cross country competition I competed in during high school. How's that?" Kara laughed out loud for the first time all day.

"I like you, Julian Albert. I really do. Now, c'mon on," she said, hurrying down the stairs. Julian rushed to close the door and follow her. He may have not been a cross country star anymore, but he still kept in very good shape. Julian ran four miles every morning, rain, shine, or snow. Keeping up with Kara should have been no problem.

Somehow, though, she managed to stay just ahead of him the whole time. Their feet pounded the pavement almost in sync and still...she was ahead of him. And Julian was not going slow, either. Both were running surprisingly fast through the crowd. Julian was impressed. Kara West was like no one he had ever seen before. She did not look like it, but she was clearly in good shape. When they arrived at the crime scene, she was barely out of breath and had not yet broken a sweat.

"You're late," a detective said, walking towards them.

"How can we be late? We literally just got your call a few minutes ago and we ran here. We made good time. Oh, right. Albert, this is Detective Joe West. Joe, this Julian Albert. He's the new forensic scientist while Barry is....away."

"Good to meet you, Mr. Albert. Now that introductions have been made, get to work. Robber stole over a million dollars and somehow managed to get away without a single person getting a glimpse of his face. Witnesses said that the glass ceiling broke and suddenly a ton of fog came into the room despite no fog being outside. Probably hooked up a fog machine or something like that."

Julian raised an eyebrow at that but got to work. It seemed that Kara did not buy Joe's explanation either because her eyebrow was also raised. Still, she said nothing and merely started collecting evidence. They worked in silence very much like earlier when they were filling out paperwork; the silence only broken occasionally when they needed another evidence bag or to share something interesting with the other. Detective West or another detective sometimes pointed out another piece of evidence for them, which they made sure to photograph and bag.

The two of them surprisingly worked while together. It usually took time for Julian to become acquainted with people, which was something else that they seemed to have in common. It was weird. It was like they just _clicked._ Yes. Despite her weird quirks, Julian had a feeling they would get along fine. Just as long as the lab equipment problem was solved. Forensic labs had to have _some_ standards, after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important Note: I have absolutely no intention of making Kara and Julian an item. That is not what I meant when I said they clicked. I just mean as friends or coworkers at the very least. Just wanted to get that out there in case people misunderstand. Thanks.


	8. Chapter 8

_Nine months later..._

Kara dashed into the CCPD with several files in one hand and a bag of doughnuts in the other. She weaved her way through the crowds of detectives and cops to Captain Singh's office where the man accepted the files without a word.

Then, she made her way upstairs to where her lab partner, Julian, was already working. He looked up as she arrived with a smile on his face.

"Ah, good. You brought the doughnuts. I think I've reached a breakthrough. Take a look at this," he said, sliding over some papers to her. She looked over them quickly while Julian dug through the doughnut bag. They had developed a system over the months they had worked together that was now becoming habit.

"You are so right, dude. I can't believe I missed that."

"Supergirl can't catch everything," Julian replied.

She shot him a dirty look before grabbing her own doughnut from the bag. He had quickly discovered that she was Supergirl (aka he accidentally found her super suit hanging in her locker after a long day) and had since started to tease her about it. They had danced around each other awkwardly, at first, unsure as to how they could proceed. He also started providing cover stories for her when she had to go on Supergirl business during work hours. They had become best friends; Julian had quickly become the brother-figure that she desperately needed.

Barry had been in a coma at STAR Labs for nine months now. She had started out visiting Barry as often as she could. With the short leave of absence she had taken from the CCPD, she had had plenty of time to sit by his bedside at STAR Labs. Now that she was back at work, Kara rarely had the time. And Julian could only cover lunch for her so many times before Captain Singh caught on. As much as she hated to admit it, Kara was becoming used to Barry not being around all the time.

"Some chick named Alex Danvers called while you were out. It sounded kind of urgent," he said while chewing on a donut.

"Shoot! Did you call her back?"

"No. I don't know the password to your phone. Why?"

"Good. She works for the government, which apparently, has not given up on trying to recruit me, like you know, as Supergirl."

"Yeah. I figured as much," he deadpanned. In response, Kara threw a crumbled up piece of paper at him, which hit him dead in the face. The force of it knocked him back a little since she used a bit of her super speed and strength to launch it across the room. They both laughed as Julian threw the paper back at her. It gently bounced off her arm. They were interrupted by Kara's phone buzzing.

"Fire downtown."

"Go. I'll cover for you."

"What would I do without you?" Kara asked as she quickly changed into her suit and grabbed the last remaining donut.

"You wouldn't have a job, that's for sure," he deadpanned.

Julian was saved from more paper balls hitting his head as Kara dashed out of the lab, focused only on the fire downtown. In the meantime, he went back to work, running tests and monitoring a police scanner for any more disasters needing Supergirl's attention. Today was going to be a long day.

~Running Home to You~

Coming into awareness was harder than he expected. The first thing that Barry was aware of was darkness. The second thing he was aware of was Lady Gaga's _Poker Face_ playing in the background of whatever room he was in. Instantly, Barry knew that he was not at the apartment.

Kara typically took her hearing dampeners off at night mainly because her ears got sore if she slept in them (she had learned that the hard way, multiple times), so she was more sensitive than any other time in the day. They could not play the radio in the apartment too loud because Kara could not handle the noise. Crowded places were to be avoided because Kara sometimes had panic attacks from the combination of the noise and claustrophobia that had plagued her since leaving the Phantom Zone, so he knew that he was not in the apartment.

_Where am I?_ Barry asked himself. _What happened?_

The last thing he remembered was heading back to the lab after the particle accelerator was turned on and promising Kara and Iris to meet them at Joe's house for dinner in about an hour. Somehow, he had a feeling that he had missed that dinner.

It was this thought that drove Barry to sit straight up in bed, breathing heavily. His eyes opened and he saw a modern, grey, circular room. There was a circular desk with several computers on it in front of him and Barry saw two people hurry towards him. One of them was a young woman who spoke quickly to either him or the other guy standing next to her. The other guy had long black hair loose and wore a cool (but nerdy) shirt over a long sleeve shirt.

"Who are you? What is the place?" Barry asked, pulling monitors from his temples and a nasal cannula from his face. "What happened?"

"Hang on, hang on. You need to take a second," the woman ordered, gently pushing him back onto the bed.

"Why do I need to take a second? _What_ is going on?"

"Dude, you were struck by lightening," the guy said.

Everything inside Barry froze. _Lightening? How am I still alive?_

The woman dived into a brief, but detailed, explanation as to what happened with him which only made about half sense to him. He wished Kara was here. She probably would understand what was going on with him.

"Where's Kara?"

The two of them exchanged looks with each other before answering. "She's at work, but she comes by all the time. I'm sure that she will stop by to see you as soon as she hears that you are awake. For now, please just rest."

"I don't need to rest!" Barry exclaimed, standing up again.

He walked over to a screen that had a camera pointed outwards and Barry was shocked by what he saw. "Lightening gave me abs?"

"Not exactly. We have a lot to explain," the woman said.

Barry spent the next hour or so listening to two employees, Dr. Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, explain what happened to him. Somehow, that bolt of lightening had given him, not only abs, but also the ability to regenerate at a cellular level, which was something he had thought possible. The information overload made him forget for just a while that he had a family waiting for him to wake up. A family that had waited by his bedside for nine long months without fail.

In all the excitement, Caitlin and Cisco had forgotten to text Kara, Joe, or Iris that Barry was awake. They had not grown close, but had exchanged numbers in the case that Barry ever woke up when they were not present. Dr. Wells even made an appearance, joining in the explanation that his two employees were giving.

"So...you are telling me that I have super speed, basically?" Barry asked, summing up.

"There is still much that we do not know about you or your abilities, Mr. Allen. We will need to run tests until we can determine the full extent of your abilities. If properly handled, we could help cure countless diseases all from your very DNA," Dr. Wells replied.

Suddenly,  Barry remembered that his family was still unaware he was awake. A brief glance at the screen told him that it was lunch time. "Look, that all sounds amazing, but right now I would really like to spend time with my family."

"Of course. But, I must caution you, Mr. Allen. Please do not tell _anyone_ about your abilities, not even your family."

"You have my word. Can I go now?" At Dr. Wells' nod, he walked out of the cortex (he knew the name for the circular room now) and almost immediately walked back to ask, "Can I keep the sweatshirt?"

"Yeah. Keep the sweatshirt."

"Thanks."

Before he left, Caitlin caught up to him and gave him a bag of his belongings and pointed him towards the nearest bathroom to change out of the sweatpants and STAR Labs sweatshirt he was wearing. Inside the bag was not only clothes, but also his cell phone (dead, obviously), watch, wallet, and a few other possessions that he had had on him when he was struck by lightening. The clothes inside were straight from his closest, except for a new pair of Converse sneakers, with the price tag still on. He smiled at the gesture; the sneakers were probably from Kara, who was the only one who understood how _comfortable_ sneakers could be.

It was this thought that made Barry hurry up. He had told Caitlin and Cisco to refrain from contacting his family because he wanted to surprise them himself and it seemed wrong to keep him waiting any longer when they had been waiting for him for nine months. So, with a smile on his face, Barry left STAR Labs, hailed a taxi and went out in the world.

~Running Home to You~

Kara flew around as Supergirl, zipping passed skyscrapers. She loved the feeling of the wind in her face and her hair. It was calming to fly, to release a part of herself that had stayed hidden for so long. The only downside was that she could not share the feeling with Barry. She had promised, once when they were in college, that she would one day take him flying. But then real life got in the way and Kara forgot about the promise she made.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a beeping sound came over her earpiece. Like any good, successful superhero, she required help. Specifically, she required someone who could alert her of emergencies that she could not hear herself or of things she needed to do to save the day. Even Clark had Chloe to help him with things like that. Kara had once that it would be Barry, but surprisingly, Julian had stepped into the role easily.

He set up a police scanner in their lab (in close proximity to his desk to turn off in case any detectives or nosy Captain came to visit), set up alerts on their phones, and designed a tiny earpiece to fit in her, completely unnoticeable to the outside world. Julian encrypted the frequency, with Kara's help, so that they were the only ones who could communicate on it. He even made it connect to his cell phone so he could call Kara while she was in the air. He also made her right hearing dampener connect to the frequency as well, just in case of an emergency.

"Attention, Supergirl," Julian's British accent filtered through her comms.

"What?" Kara replied, rolling her eyes at his antics.

"Joe wants you downstairs in the station. Now. He just texted me to tell you to hurry your ass up."

"I'm on my way."

It had taken some time for Joe to come around to the idea of Kara as Supergirl, but he grew to accept it. He had, somehow, also accepted that Julian was a "co-conspirator" with her at work (Joe's words, not hers) and would alert him whenever Kara was needed urgently at work, or that one memorable time, she was almost late to a family dinner, despite now living with Joe full time.

Kara flew through the open window of the police station and sped to her locker where she sped changed into the clothes that she had carelessly tossed aside when she left. Julian, like the sweetheart he tried to deny he was, had picked up her clothes and folded them inside her locker. Her glasses were neatly placed on the shelf above, right in front of her lunch bag. "You are the absolute best, Julian. Remind me to get you a gift or something."

"A nap one of these days would be more than enough compensation."

"I will not hesitate to practice my jump shots for trash can basketball on your head. Love you," Kara said, dashing out the door. She could hear Julian reply in kind (without the threat of violence) and continued to dash downstairs. The detectives rarely called either her or Julian downstairs unless to yell at them or something similar, so it was never good to keep them waiting.

When she got downstairs, Kara froze. Because standing there was her best friend. Standing right next to Joe, in the Central City Police Station, was her best friend, Barry Allen. Her best friend, Barry Allen, who had been in a coma for nine months. Barely believing what she was seeing, Kara took a small step forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for ending this chapter like this (well, kind of). I originally only planned to have the reunion last one chapter, but as I continued to write this chapter, I just kept feeling like dragging it out a bit. Don't worry, Barry and Kara will be reunited next chapter. 
> 
> I also decided to change Barry's origin story a tiny bit. He will still work with STAR Labs on his powers, but secretly. I thought it would be cool to see Barry watch Kara be a superhero and keeping his own powers from her and how that will affect their relationship. I'm not yet sure when Kara and the rest will find out. Same goes for Caitlin and Cisco finding out that Kara is Supergirl. 
> 
> Finally, I am also interested (I don't know about you) in seeing how Barry will react with Kara and Julian's relationship. I made it so that they are close enough that some may mistake them for dating, but they are really more like brother and sister, kind of like how Barry and Kara were before the particle accelerator explosion. I actually based their relationship off my own relationship with a dear friend of mine. We went from acquaintances to best friends like overnight. Our relationship may be strange to others, but somehow it just works. He would annoy the crap out of me, I would threaten to hit him with something (most of the time my textbook), and he would just laugh it off every time and tell me to set a time after class to do it, even if I never did it. Basically, our relationship includes ranting, lots of swearing, threats of violence, and two hour FaceTime conversations (I still don't know how we managed that). He moved away now, but that part of our relationship still stands. 
> 
> For some reason, I just pictured Kara and Julian just constantly being total savages to each other and taking it with a grain of salt and laughing it off because that's just how they operate. With more than occasional threats of violence. But underneath it al, there is a love that siblings have for each other, which some might mistake for dating.  
> Sorry, to make you read all that. Or you could have just skipped it all. That works too. Anyway, I'll let you move on now. Please comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading, enjoying, commenting, and for putting up with me and my infrequent updates in the first place.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking. Wasn't this story only at one chapter yesterday? You are right it was. Today, however, I decided to get off my lazy ass and post the rest of the chapters that I have on Wattpad to here. So, this story jumped from one chapter to nine in one day. You are welcome. Enjoy the tons of updates I did because it probably will not happen again....unless I get lazy and don't post anything. Anyway, sorry for the wait, but I think I made up for it with nine chapters.

Kara could not believe what she was seeing. It had to be a dream. The last time that she saw Barry Allen was a week ago when she managed to carve some time to slip away from work and Supergirl business to spend a few hours at his bedside in STAR Labs. Dr. Snow had told her that there was no change in Barry's condition. So, how could he be here right now?

"Barry...?" Kara asked, hesitantly. "You're actually here?"

"I'm here."

She wasted no more time rushing over to him and bringing him into a tight hug. He returned the hug as tightly as he could. Kara pulled away and looked Barry over. Dr. Snow had clearly given him the bag of clothing that she had left for him in STAR Labs. She knew Barry would wake up one day. It was just a matter of time.

"Nine months?" Kara yelled out, lightly punching his arm. Still, he rubbed his arm where he could already feel a bruise forming. If Kara had actually punched him at full strength, Barry would have gone flying to the other side of the room, or further, depending on how hard she punched him. "Really, Barry?"

"Sorry. I guess I needed a nap," he joked back.

"Yes, yes. Take the rest of the day off, West. But I want you back here tomorrow morning ready to work. Allen, good to see you," Captain Singh said.

Kara knew the man well enough that she knew it was a signal to get the hell out of his station to let everyone get back to work. Joe helped to usher them out while also grabbing his coat and bag to leave as well. When they got out of the bullpen, Joe pushed Kara towards the stairs to grab her things. Julian already had her bag and coat and was waiting for her at the top of the stairs.

"I got the lab for the day. I'm really glad that he's awake, Kara."

"Thanks, Julian. And don't worry about your job. I'll convince Singh to keep you on," she said, instantly knowing his hidden concern. As the months that Barry spent in a coma slowly increased, no one knew what would happen to Julian when Barry woke up. Everyone had grown used to his work ethic and efficient results. Julian was now a member of the close knit family of CCPD and everyone was hesitant to wish him goodbye. Besides, Kara knew that she would not have been able to survive the past nine months without Julian by her side. She figured that helping him keep his job was repayment for all the times that he helped her out of tight spots the past nine months. Now, it was just a question of what would happen to Barry's job.

"You saying you gonna miss me, West?"

"Nah. I'm saying that I would miss beating you in trash can basketball. Someone has to keep your ego in check. Wanna come to dinner tonight?"

"And miss the chance to crush you in chess and keep _your_   ego in check? I would never miss the opportunity."

"You're going down, Albert," Kara shouted going down the steps.

"You wish!" He replied as he went back to the lab. Kara noticed Barry giving them a strange look but ignored it for now. He was probably just wondering who Julian was and why he and Kara were so close. 

"Who's that?" Barry asked, confirming Kara's suspicions. She was happy to note that she could still read Barry like a book.

"Julian Albert. He was the forensic scientist assigned to take over your job until you could come back. He's actually coming to dinner tonight, if that is alright Joe?"

"Of course. It will be nice to have you kept busy instead of terrorizing your godson," he replied.

"I apologized for that." 

"Like I'm going to forget you breaking Matthew's favorite toy anytime soon." 

"It was an accident, I swear!"

~Running Home to You~

Barry was extremely confused. Yes, he had been in a coma for nine months. Somehow in his head, however, he expected that nothing would have really changed, despite the time passed. It seemed like everything had changed, though.

Joe was still a detective, but he seemed older now. More wrinkles were on his face and there seemed to be a general aura of tiredness around him, but he seemed happy now. Barry was also surprised that he was so welcoming to this Julian Albert. 

Watching Kara interact with Julian made Barry realize that it _had_ been a long time since he had truly been in Kara's life. She and Julian were clearly comfortable with one another and had their own jokes and games that they resorted to during long hours in the lab. It made him wonder if they were dating. He had clearly come to dinner at Joe's house before (something told Barry that Julian had come over often), and they were very close. 

He felt jealous; watching them interact. He had never worked up the courage to tell Kara that he loved her, and maybe Julian had. Barry barely knew the man, but he decided that he did not like Julian Albert. 

In the nine months that had passed, Kara also seemed a little more confident. She walked with her shoulders back, chin high, and just had this feeling around her that she could do anything. She just looked _happier_. Barry was unsure if that was because she was happy that she was awake or happy just because she was more relaxed. But that could also do with Barry being awake. Everything was just very confusing right now. 

These thoughts tumbled through Barry's head as they walked to Joe's car. Kara stopped walking suddenly and got that look on her face that meant she was listening to something, which had to be impossible. She still had her hearing dampeners in and there was no way that she could hear anything more than a human could (less if she was feeling particularly twitchy that day).

"Joe, I have to go. There's a fire a few blocks away," she said, walking away quickly. 

"What's that about?" Barry asked Joe and Iris, who both looked entirely too comfortable with the situation. 

"We'll explain in the car. C'mon," Iris replied. 

Barry got into the passenger seat of the car, still looking very much bewildered. Iris was already in the backseat, typing something on her phone. She handed it to him as Joe pulled away from the curb and into Central City traffic. 

There was an article on Iris' phone. The headline read: _Superman and Supergirl Team Up to Save Citizens Trapped in Huge Fire in Downtown Central City._ The article was dated to just two weeks before today. 

"Supergirl?" 

"After the particle accelerator explosion, Kara was pretty torn up. She was experiencing panic attacks, and the like. She spent some time with Clark in Metropolis and with Martha in Smallville. Clark realized that Kara was feeling so bad because she felt helpless; she could do nothing to save you. So, he offered to train her to be a superhero and this time she accepted. She's been Central City's hero, Supergirl, for the last nine months now," Iris explained. 

"Kara became a superhero?" 

"Yep. A pretty darn good one, if you ask me. She works pretty closely with the CCPD to help solve crimes and stuff on top of just helping out citizens in trouble. Julian helps her out with the tech stuff. He recalibrated her hearing dampeners to also receive calls from his phone so she can hear about disasters as they are happening. That's what she was hearing before she left." 

Barry looked towards Joe with confusion and a hint of betrayal in his eyes. Joe had always been the one who told Kara that she was too young to be a superhero and to hide her powers. "And you are okay with this, Joe?" 

"I wasn't to begin with, but she has proven herself capable," Joe said. 

Iris leaned over the backseat to stage-whisper in Barry's ear, "Plus, she was going to do it with or without him, so he just decided to support her instead of tearing her down." 

"That is not what happened, Iris." 

"Then, why did you and Kara not speak for like a week?" 

"It was before she had proven herself." 

"Anyway, Kara is a superhero now. Julian is her really awesome British tech guy. Clark is still the super nerdy, overprotective cousin, but he knows Kara can handle herself. What else did you miss? Uhhh....there has been these crazy people with powers showing up. Kara calls them metahumans. She and Julian think that their powers are a result of the particle accelerator explosion and the radiation afterwards. Speaking of which, you don't have any crazy powers, do you Barry?" 

Barry nervously laughed. "Of course not. I would tell you if I have superpowers, Iris." She seemed to sigh in relief. 

"That's good. Having two superheroes in the family is crazy enough. Adding a third? Imagine those family dinners, Dad." 

"No thank you," Joe replied, pulling the car to a stop outside their house. 

Barry felt really bad for lying to his family about his powers. It was not like they wouldn't accept him. In fact, they would. The West and Kent families would totally accept him with superpowers because they already had experience with such a thing. 

Still, Barry promised to keep it a secret. He knew that everyone would be very overprotective of him because of the nine month coma. The last thing any of them, especially Kara, would want to see is him putting his life in danger. If they did not know, they would not be able to stop him. 

As the three of them walked into the house, Barry stumbled over a box lying in the middle of the doorway. He heard Joe curse behind him. "How many times have I told her to move her crap upstairs?"

"Who?" Barry questioned. 

"Kara. She had trouble with the rent after your accident, so she moved back home. She still hasn't fully unpacked everything despite Dad yelling at her to over the past nine months." 

"She always gets conveniently busy right when I need her to. And it's not like these boxes are heavy to her either or that she couldn't use super speed," Joe complained. 

Iris looked at Barry, rolling her eyes at her father's antics. Then, she dragged Barry to the living room under the claim that he had a lot to catch up on. Turning on the TV, Iris started to give Barry a quick summary of all the important stuff that he missed. 

~Running Home to You~ 

Kara arrived shortly after Joe started making dinner, smelling like soot. Her hair was singed a little, but she looked fine. She went right upstairs when she got in, ignoring Joe's yell to take her box with her. 

Soon after, Julian arrived, not even bothering to knock before stepping inside. He joined Iris and Barry in the living room and started setting up a chess set to what looked like the middle of a game, occasionally adding in something that Barry missed. Iris would just nod when he contributed and go right back into it. Barry's head was spinning with all the information. 

"Is Iris driving you crazy? I wish I could say that she's calmed down in the last nine months, but that would be a lie," Kara said, joining them in the living room. She was dressed in a white pair of jeans  with a blue T-shirt from Metropolis University and had her hair neatly braided. She smelled like citrus and vanilla, which was a scent that Barry could honestly say that he missed. A lot. 

"Haha. She thinks she's so funny," Iris rolled her eyes. 

"That's because I am."

"Are you two done so that we can resume our game?" Julian interrupted before the sisters could continue bickering. 

"Oh yes. I can't wait to kick your ass." 

"You wish." 

"I'm already winning, doofus." 

"AND I'm out. I'll let the nerds go crazy over chess," Iris said, standing up and walking to the kitchen. 

Barry watched as the two played chess. It was an interesting game. At one point it seemed like Kara was going to win. Then, Julian would make a surprising move and Barry would think that he was going to win. 

Despite not liking the man, Barry could tell that he was a worthy adversary for Kara (who had never lost a game since being introduced to the game). Barry, himself, would like to play Julian. Only to completely crush him, of course. 

And if Barry gave Julian dirty looks for the rest of the night (because he not only stayed for dinner, but desert too), no one commented on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter was mainly just Barry realizing that things have changed. I didn't want to clarify the relationship yet between Kara and Julian because it was kind of fun to write jealous and confused Barry. Don't worry, it will be cleared up eventually. 
> 
> Next time on Running Home to You,  
> Barry has begun secretly training at STAR Labs with his powers. He soon discovers that keeping such a secret from his family is not as fun as he thought it would be. Meanwhile, the DEO approaches Kara once again, but for different reasons than you think.


	10. Chapter 10

"Mornin' sleepyhead," Joe said, as Barry walked into the kitchen the next morning.

Barry was surprised to see Kara already awake and dressed for work as he stumbled into a seat at the dining table. She and Julian had stayed up late the night before to try and finish their chess game. They finally ended in a draw at one a.m. Joe and Kara already both had cups of coffee in their hands and breakfast made.

"Good morning, Barry. How'd you sleep?" Kara asked.

"Alright. I'm surprised that I even slept. Especially after sleeping for nine months."

"Well, I'm not. Barry, what do you plan to do today?"

"I have to go into STAR Labs for a checkup this morning. Not sure how long it will take, but I'm expecting it to take a far amount of time," Barry replied, taking a plate full of food that Kara offered to him.

"You feeling okay?" Kara asked, worriedly.

"Of course. They just want to make sure there are no side effects to the coma or the lightening strike," he lied. He felt bad for doing so. The last thing he wanted was to start keeping secrets from Kara.

Joe poured some coffee into two travel mugs and handed one of them to Kara. Then, he grabbed his gun, keys, and coat, signaling that he was ready to go for work. "Kara, I'm headed out. Do you need a ride today or is Julian picking you up?" 

"I need a ride," she replied, through a large bite of toast. "Julian is going to be running late. Dentist appointment. I would fly to work, but someone won't let me...."

"We already had this discussion, Kara. Several times, in fact. You hate taking the bus and walking to work will make you late. Flying may get you there on time, but people will wonder why you are suddenly arriving at work on time. I'm driving you. Grab your things."

She ran into the living room to grab her bag and coat before coming back into the kitchen. Barry was shocked, yet pleased, to feel Kara give him a quick kiss on the check as Joe ushered her out of the door. As the door closed behind them, Barry reflected on the feeling. He had not seen any such signs of affection between her and Julian the night before. Maybe they had just agreed not to display any such affection in front of him, so as not to make him uncomfortable. Barry's alarm on his phone rang out through the empty house as a reminder for him to head to STAR Labs, dislodging any more thoughts of Kara and Julian out of his mind.

After a quick breakfast, Barry changed into a pair of clothes, which he had to dig through several boxes to find, headed towards STAR Labs. He was let in immediately and Cisco greeted him at the main elevator. They did not stay long; Dr. Wells wanted to start testing Barry's speed immediately. Cisco drove for an hour out to the private airfield in a STAR Labs van, stocked with food for the long day and the equipment needed to run tests.

"Here, change into this outfit," Cisco said, handing Barry a red track suit, shoes, gloves, glasses, and a helmet. Barry moved into the small bathroom at the back of the van to change.

He quickly changed into the outfit, grimacing at his reflection in the mirror. He was unsure as to why such an outfit existed. It looked horrible on him. Red was his color, yes, (his parents always said so) but the outfit design was horrible. It had no sleeves and hung low on his chest, but was skintight. The outfit reached down to his mid-thigh and left nothing to imagination. Monitors were placed inside the fabric at various positions to mark his vitals.

"Do I really have to wear this?" Barry asked.

"Yes. The suit not only tracks your vitals, but it's friction proof as well. It will help us see how fast you can actually go."

"Let's see what you can do," Dr. Well said.

Barry nodded and moved into position. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, opened them, and ran forward. He found himself running at super speed.

It was an amazing feeling. Barry felt that he understood what Kara and Clark were talking about when they talked about flying. They often said that there was no feeling like it and Barry understood that for the first time. Everything flew past him at super speed yet Barry could still see everything perfectly clearly.

Suddenly, a memory invaded his consciousness. He saw a blur running around his mother and his father trying to save her. It occurred to him that he had the same power that the strange figure had had the night that he killed Barry's mother. Barry felt himself loose focus and veer off course into a group of water tanks. He grunted in pain as he held his wrist, which was bent at a strange angle. He knew immediately that it was broken.

"Barry?" He heard Caitlin saw over the comms.

"I think I just broke my wrist," he managed to get out.

"We're coming to get you, Barry. Just hold on for a moment," Dr. Wells replied.

~Running Home to You~

Kara's phone had been ringing nonstop all day. It started ringing shortly after she arrived at work and had been ringing every thirty minutes. She was considering throwing a bunch of chemicals on it just to shut up the ringing. Julian had promised to call her when he was on his way to the station after his appointment. So, each time that her damn phone rang, she thought it was Julian, only to find it was actually a blocked number. There was only one person who would be calling from a blocked number. Alex Danvers, DEO agent.

The DEO and Kara had come to a mutual understanding a few months after she came out as Supergirl. Kara did not work for them in any official capacity, but she did occasionally help them when an alien was being particularly troublesome. In return, they kept other government organizations from becoming too interested in she or her cousin. Kara did not feel like helping the DEO today, hence why she was screening their calls.

"You should really pick up your phone," Julian said as he hurried inside the station.

"It's Alex Danvers. She wants me for something," she replied.

"What now?"

"I don't know. I haven't answered her calls yet."

Julian gave her a dirty look as he put down his belongings. Just as he opened his mouth to respond, Kara's cell phone rang once again with the blocked number flashing on the screen. She groaned in response.

"They get upset when you don't answer, Kara. Remember the deal you made."

"We did not make a deal, per say. I agreed to help them every once in awhile with rogue aliens or meta humans and they would keep the government off Clark and I's backs."

"That is the definition of a deal." Julian groaned as he was hit in the face with a crumpled up piece of paper.

"Jerk."

"Coward."

Kara's phone rang once again. Julian pushed the device towards her and said, "Answer your phone. See what they want. If you do not like it, then don't do it. You maintain that right since you are not an agent of the DEO." She picked it up and did not wait for a greeting. The DEO tended to skip straight to the point, which was something that Kara could at least agree with them on.

"An alien escaped from our holdings and killed seven agents. He's on the loose now. We could use your help in tracking him."

"I'll be right there," Kara said, hanging up. "Julian-"

"I got the lab. That's my girl!"

Kara sped into her suit, tossing her glasses into Julian's waiting hands. She did not bother to take off her hearing dampeners. The DEO was aware of her identity and would keep it secret for her. Plus, she had every intention of wrapping this up very quickly and returning to work.

"Don't touch the report on my desk. I am still waiting for a few tests to come back before wrapping it up. Also-"

"Kara, I know. I've been working with you for nine months now. I know how you work. You better get going...don't keep the DEO waiting," Julian said, ushering her out the window.

As she left, Julian leaned back in his seat, shaking his head, and said, "I need a raise."

~Running Home to You~

Barry sat on a cot in the cortex of STAR Labs with a brace on his left wrist. Caitlin bustled around with a tablet, studying his most recent X-Ray. It had been only an hour since he had crashed while running and broken his wrist. Cisco was on the side, reading a comic book and drinking a slurpie. Dr. Wells was somewhere else in the building. He had wandered off as soon as they had returned and Barry was taken care of.

"This is amazing," Caitlin muttered to herself.

"What?" Barry asked.

"Your wrist is completely healed. This is your latest X-Ray."

"That is impossible." Barry looked at the X-Ray in shock. Three hours ago, his wrist had been snapped clean in half from the impact. Now, his wrist was completely healed. He took off the brace around his wrist and flexed it. He felt no pain as he moved his wrist about.

"Apparently not. Your wrist just healed in three hours inside your body with no outside interference," Dr. Wells said, rolling back into the cortex. Barry almost jumped in surprise. The man had a habit of sneaking off and then sneaking back into the room right as the conversation started getting interesting.

"So?"

"So, we will need to run some more tests. We won't break any more bones, accidental or purposeful, but we'll run some tests to see what is about you that makes you heal so quickly. After that, we'll go one from there."

Barry wondered for a moment about what Dr. Wells wanted to do with him. "What exactly do you mean to do with me?"

"The night that the particle accelerator exploded, my lifelong dream was fulfilled for approximately eleven minutes. After that, I lost my credibility, my reputation, my company, everything. No one wants anything to do with my company anymore. If I could give people something that could heal any illness or injury or genetic disease, then maybe I could get all of that back. And you would be at the forefront of that."

"So you want to use me to help save lives?"

"Yes. If you help me, we will save hundreds, if not billions of lives."

"I need some time to think about all this. I'm going out to get some lunch. I'll be back afterwards," Barry said, walking out of the cortex.

He headed to Noonan's to pick up Kara's favorite lunch before walking over to the police station. Barry did not call ahead to tell Kara that he was coming to visit her for lunch. He wanted to surprise her with lunch, which he had never been able to before since they always used to work together. It was nice but strange all at the same time.

Barry made sure to avoid Captain Singh as he got upstairs to the lab. He was concerned that Singh would approach him about when Barry would be returning to work as a forensic scientist. To be honest, Barry needed time to think about whether or not he would be coming back at all. It was clear that everyone was extremely comfortable with Julian around the station and Kara was too. Besides with everything that was going on with STAR Labs, he knew that he might be too busy to actually keep a job.

When he got upstairs, Barry was surprised to see only Julian in the lab. He was sitting in Barry's old chair but was working at Kara's workstation, flicking through a file and occasionally writing down notes in pen. He looked up as Barry walked in, "Barry, it's good to see you walking around. I'm sorry that we did not get much of a chance to speak last night."

"It's alright," he said, shaking hands with Julian.

"How are you doing with everything? I'll be honest with you. I was not expecting to see you here today."

"I was hoping to surprise Kara with lunch. Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah. She was called away on Supergirl business. It may take her awhile before she's finished."

"Oh, thanks," Barry said. He now felt kind of dumb for not calling ahead to check if Kara was even in the lab. He had forgotten that she was now Central City's resident superhero. "I probably should have called ahead."

"It's perfectly fine. I'll let her know that you were looking for her. Do you need a ride? I'm about to go on lunch break anyway."

"No, I'm good but thanks. I think a nice walk will help me out." 

"It's supposed to rain later today, so be careful, mate," Julian said as he went back to work. 

Barry nodded and left the lab, still clutching the bag of takeout that he had originally gotten for him and Kara to share. He was feeling rather hungry himself, so he figured he would find a park bench or something to enjoy his meal alone. 

He left the station, somehow managing to avoid getting caught by Captain Singh still. Then, he walked for about a block before turning into an alleyway. Barry checked his surroundings and then he started running at superspeed. Who needs a car when you have superspeed? he thought. 

Suddenly, Barry heard the sound of screaming nearby. He dropped the bag of food and ran to the scene. A building was on fire and people were trapped inside. Julian's heads-up about Kara being busy with Supergirl business filled his head, so Barry waited for a minute or two until he was sure that Kara was not going to show up. It was weird. The fire would have been reported on fairly quickly based on the amount of bystanders standing around the building, so she should have shown up almost as soon as the fire department heard. 

Without Supergirl there, people were going to die. Barry knew that. Traffic had been horrendous all day, so the CCFD would have a difficult time making their way over. Barry looked around at all the bystanders; all of them were too busy looking at the fire consuming the building to pay attention to him. So, he sped inside to get people out. 

Barry raced through the five-story building, looking for people. Whenever he found someone, he would grab them and then put them outside on the pavement at the back of the building, away from all the bystanders (Barry wasn't going to draw any more attention to himself), near the back door. It only took him two minutes to get everybody out of the burning building. Two more minutes inside and everybody would be dead. 

He ran to an empty alley not far from the burning building where he skidded to a stop. His sneakers were burning from the friction as well as his jacket. He crumbled up both and tossed them in a trashcan nearby. Barry did not need a mirror to know that his face and clothing were black with soot and he smelled like a barbecue. 

"So much for staying on the down low," he muttered.

~Running Home to You~

"What are we dealing with?" Kara asked as she landed in front of the desert base of the DEO outside nearby National City. Alex and Hank Henshaw, the director of the DEO, were waiting for her. 

"A Halamite. Normally, a peaceful species, this one seems to be the exception. The species typically displays above average strength, but this one has been modified with cybernetics. He has them all over his body," Alex explained, holding out a tablet with all the prisoner information. 

"You said you need help in tracking him? Can't you create an algorithm or program that will track these cybernetics?" Kara asked. 

"The cybernetics are advanced; hacking into their signals requires expertise that our personnel just does not have," Hank replied. 

Kara nodded for a moment, taking in the information. "I might be able to help with that. Krypton was among the leaders in the galaxy in tracking cybernetics, specifically cybernetics that could be used to modify Halamites. They developed a program for it. My dad once showed me the coding for the program. It's been awhile, but I should be able to recreate it for the DEO's systems." 

"And if not?" Hank asked. 

"If I can't lock onto their frequency on a computer, I may be able to do so by listening for it. Let's just worry about that if we get there, okay?"

"Fine. Get to work." 

Then, the three of them walked into the base. Kara went straight for the computers after Hank had one of the technicians clear his workstation for her. 

This was one of those times that Kara was extremely thankful for her photographic memory. Even before she got superpowers, she had an excellent memory (something that seemed to run in the members of the House of El), which helped her in her training to become a member of the science guild before Krypton's demise. 

It took some time to translate the code from Kryptonese to English, but the DEO's universal translator program helped speed things up. Once she had the code translated, then Kara could begin to work. She tuned out everything around her as she worked, turning up her dampeners to their highest setting. The quiet helped her remember everything that her father had told her once about tracking such cybernetics, which she made sure to add to the program. An hour later, Kara felt that she had taken the program as far as she could take it. If it did not work, she would go to Plan B.

"One program to track Halamite cybernetics for you," Kara said after she waved both Hank and Alex over. Alex took time to look over the code and made a noise that sounded like she was impressed. 

"Impressive coding, especially for a forensic scientist."

"Hacking and programing is a hobby. Not that I use it for nefarious purposes or any other time that it is not sanctioned and beneficial to the U.S. Government, of course," Kara backtracked as she realized how her statement might sound. The DEO did not need to know what she liked hacking into for fun (though, with Kara's luck, they probably already did).

"Anyway, do I have your permission to boot up the program, Director?" she asked, refocusing everybody on the emergency at hand.

"Do it. Once you get a location, your services will no longer be required today."

Kara smiled as she started the program. This little errand for the DEO had already taken longer than she expected it to. Luckily, Julian was good enough at coming up with lies for when things like this happened and Joe would back him up. Still, she really wanted to get back to the lab where the most difficult cases were proving who murdered who and how. 

"The location of the Halamite is an abandoned warehouse near the industrial area of National City. Classic hideout for a criminal, really. Next time, skip the program and just check all abandoned warehouses in National. Piece of cake," Kara said. Her humor was obviously not appreciated based off Alex's glare. 

"Thank you, Supergirl, for your aid and cooperation," Alex said, leaving to go lead the strike team that would bring the prisoner in.

"Agent Danvers!"

"Yes?" the agent asked, turning around. 

"I recommend using a localized EMP to knock out his cybernetics. It'll make him easier to capture and control."

Alex said nothing, but she nodded to show her understanding. With that over with, Kara left the DEO and headed back to the CCPD so she could focus on her day job.

Julian was waiting for her with three bags of food on her desk from Big Belly Burger. "I love you," Kara said, speeding towards the bags. 

"It's nice to know that I'm appreciated. Barry came by earlier."

"He did?"

"Yeah. I told him you had Supergirl business, but not where. And that leads me to the next problem. While you were at the DEO, a fire broke out in an apartment building downtown."

"Which I was unable to show up for..." she trailed off, realizing where this was going. "Did anybody-" 

"No," Julian was quick to reassure her. "Everybody got out completely unharmed except for some minor smoke inhalation. The weird part is that they all got out in a span of two minutes, which is impossible. Reports say that people say, get this, a blur."

He handed Kara the report. The forensic scientists all over the city shared reports with each other to detect any similarities between crimes. "We already have the report? That was fast," she said, flickering through it at super speed. 

"So, the victims were standing in the burning building and the next thing they know is that they are standing outside the back door of the building. Report says that it is not Supergirl because the CCFD put out the fire ten minutes after arriving on site."

"I think it's a metahuman."

"A metahuman that actually wants to help people. That would certainly be a first."

"Exactly."

"I'll keep an eye out for this metahuman on any calls I get. It would be nice to meet them."

Both of them, caught up discussing the apartment fire, failed to notice Barry standing just outside the lab's door. He had just come to check to see if Kara was back and now found out that they knew a metahuman was involved in saving those people. 

He desperately wanted to tell Kara everything. Barry swore to himself that he would. One day. First, though, he wanted to prove that he could be a hero, too.

 

Wow. This is a very long chapter. I did not mean to make it this long, but it kind of just happened on it's own. So, we see a little bit of the dynamic between Kara and the DEO. To be honest, they will not be seen too much in this story because Kara is her own superhero in this story. That is why I said they have a little agreement: Kara helps them during emergencies and they keep the government off her back.

Next time on Running Home to You, 

Barry has decided to start back up as a forensic scientist. However, he has to move to National City to do so until a position in Central City opens up. With hundreds of miles between he and Kara, Barry sees the chance to strike out on his own as a hero, prompting him to receive a visit from an old and new friend. Meanwhile, Kara seeks some words of wisdom from her cousin.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is cross posted on Wattpad and Fanfiction.net. I started it on Wattpad originally, so it is a little bit ahead of the other two. However, I will be posting new chapters on both this site and Fanfiction.net to catch up. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to share more of this story with you. 
> 
> It came from an idea that I have had for a long time that no one was writing, so I wrote instead. See you next time in Running Home to You (brownie points to whoever knows where I got the title from)


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